All major lotteries in the Netherlands make part of their proceeds available to charities and pay a lot of attention to this when promoting their lottery. Donations to charities (rather, to ANBIs) are deductible for income tax purposes. Therefore, a taxpayer claimed that 50% of its deposits in the National Postcode Lottery, Sponsor Bingo Lottery and Bankgiro Lottery were deductible as donations. 50% of the deposit, according to the interested party, benefited the charities.
Both Rechtbank Gelderland and Hof Arnhem-Leeuwarden disagreed with the interested party. A gift only exists if there is no direct quid pro quo in return for the deposit. In lotteries, there is such consideration in the form of the right to participate in the lottery and the chance of prizes. Both judges ruled that the contribution cannot be divided into a part that directly benefits participation in the lottery and a part that benefits charities.
(Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal 2-9-2014, no. 14/00089)