Sweden’s best online poker pros may be less fortuitous than they believed. The nation’s tax authority, Skatteverket, has demanded that online poker winnings derived from internet gambling sites based outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) be divulged for the quadrangular term of 2008 through 2011.
Online poker players in Sweden received a detailed letter from Skatteverket that specifically requested screen names and financial account statements from a long list of online poker sites that include PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and Bodog Poker. Online poker tournament winnings that come from outside the EEA must also be reported.
The letter received by internet poker pros from Skatteverket read (after English translation):
“[We have] obtained information that you have played poker in one or more Internet sites based outside the European Economic Area (EEA) for the period 2008-2011.
“Please submit bank statement or similar documentation from any internet site where you had the bankroll for the period 2008-2011. Account statements [where] all transactions appear; deposit, withdrawal and profits.”
The requirement to report online poker winnings for taxation purposes is nothing new, and letters aren’t the only thing showing up on poker pro’s doorsteps. Impromptu raids were launched on the homes of professional poker players all across Sweden by the Serious Fraud Office. Among the items confiscated were desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices.
Skatteverket is seeking all financial documents that may reveal information regarding online poker payments, including bank statements, credit card statements, PayPal account statements and financial documentation from other popular e-wallet payment processors.
The Swedish tax office has long been scrutinized for its indubitably harsh and mutable regulations. In regards to online poker, the protocols have changed so many times over the last year period that players could easily become confused as to how their poker play is to be taxed.
The former guidelines of Skatteverket stated that taxes would be calculated by individual hands. That process has been altered numerous times to now include not just wins, but also losses. In addition, the wins and losses are not calculated as a whole, but must be taken into account for each individual online poker site in which a player participates. The poker losses calculated from one site will no longer have any effect on losses evaluated from another.
As an official government office, there is virtually nothing professional poker players can do but attempt to cooperate with the Skatteverket group as much as possible. Any online poker player who does not liaise will be mandated to do so one way or another, be it by written demand or the unannounced raiding of their homes.
Sweden is known throughout the world as a tax haven, which is a big plus for online poker players who reside there and only participate in card sites within the European Economic Area, which consists of the European Union, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway. However, poker winnings derived anywhere outside this area are taxed very heavily. This explains why the Swedish sector of professional poker players make scant appearances at major live poker events in other areas of the world, like the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
