do they pay tax?

windamon

just thinking.if you are a pro pkr ply do you pay tax on money won in this country?. is it classed as a (proper job). im not sure of the tax laws on gambling over here. anybody any ideas?. ty.

debdobs_67

Pretty sure its tax free

1267

100 percent tax free.

Tikay10

No!

Poker players have never paid tax on their winnings. It's an "uncollectable tax" if you think about it, because, as with all tax systems, taxpayers are allowed to offset losses against gains.

 

ajs4385

No tax
No student loan repayments
No travel costs

Just have to pay bout 6k a month in rake (obv depends on volume and level etc)

MAXALLY

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

No tax No student loan repayments No travel costs Just have to pay bout 6k a month in rake (obv depends on volume and level etc)
Posted by ajs4385

....but you could get £3k back in a prize rebate   ☺

scotty77

No tax on poker winnings.  If you think about it, it would be a logicstical nightmare for the government....would then open up the opportunity for ANYONE to claim back their loses for every form of gambling and as we a society with gambling kind of everywhere I think it would be more trouble than its worth.....

windamon

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

No! Poker players have never paid tax on their winnings. It's an "uncollectable tax" if you think about it, because, as with all tax systems, taxpayers are allowed to offset losses against gains.  
Posted by Tikay10

so pokerplys reap the bennefits of our system ie nhs etc and dont pay into the system?

1267

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

In Response to Re: do they pay tax? : so pokerplys reap the bennefits of our system ie nhs etc and dont pay into the system?
Posted by windamon

lol lets not start this argument ey,  but surely it's alot better for the economy that being on the dole (who reap the same benefits) !  as at least they put money back into the economy by spending etc..

tikay1

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

In Response to Re: do they pay tax? : so pokerplys reap the bennefits of our system ie nhs etc and dont pay into the system?
Posted by windamon

Read into it what you will, Sir, I was asked a question & I simply gave a factual answer.

BrownnDog

Well we dont pay income tax.

I certainly pay tax, however.

scotty77

Well without pro players there wouldn't be poker sites....there wouldn't be all the jobs for people that Sky need to employ to keep the site running....the poker rooms are taxed on rake etc

There wouldn't be poker rooms in casinos.

Pro players also don't claim the dole.

Most players I assume have some kind of business interest away from poker.

Even tho poker players don't pay income tax on winnings, we certianly pay plenty of tax.  And if ANYONE pro or not took down, say a GUKPT this year for ~50k plus...then they wouldn't pay tax either.

It's not as black and white as it first appears

windamon

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

No tax on poker winnings.  If you think about it, it would be a logicstical nightmare for the government....would then open up the opportunity for ANYONE to claim back their loses for every form of gambling and as we a society with gambling kind of everywhere I think it would be more trouble than its worth.....
Posted by scotty77

yo bro.i understand that you cannot tax poker plys on poker winnings if they cannot claimagainst losses but surely these plyrs who say profit margins would be too small if winnings were taxable are obviously not good eneough and should find a proper job.dont get me wrong i do not begrudge a plyr earning 200 grand a year etc in line with legal requirments but what about the guys on the poverty line earning min wage and paying his wack in tax but yet what bennefits he does get are being cut.all im saying is if a pros house is on fire he will expect the fire service to come and put out the fire,if hes stranded on a mountain hell want the emergency services help,if he gets married and  has kids hell want his kids to go in a state school, somat is wrong somewere.  ps   do they pay ni contributions?

aiken2001

Think about it in a different way. All the moneythat is floating around on the poker sites has paid its tax being joe public on the 2/4p tables all the way up to mr millionaire on the £5/£10k tables before they put the money into poker circulation the earned it and paid tax on it. If mr Pro Poker player is making his cool 200k a year he works b****y hard for it and then spends that money into the general economy . Paying council tax on his mansion for instance paying Vat on that nice 27" moniter he wants for work. There aint that many of them and the contribution they would make is minimal in the grand scheme of things.

unknown_username

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

In Response to Re: do they pay tax? : yo bro.i understand that you cannot tax poker plys on poker winnings if they cannot claimagainst losses but surely these plyrs who say profit margins would be too small if winnings were taxable are obviously not good eneough and should find a proper job.dont get me wrong i do not begrudge a plyr earning 200 grand a year etc in line with legal requirments but what about the guys on the poverty line earning min wage and paying his wack in tax but yet what bennefits he does get are being cut.all im saying is if a pros house is on fire he will expect the fire service to come and put out the fire,if hes stranded on a mountain hell want the emergency services help,if he gets married and  has kids hell want his kids to go in a state school, somat is wrong somewere.  ps   do they pay ni contributions?
Posted by windamon

These are all paid for with your council tax and every household pays council tax.

Although there are some Poker Players making a profit, the vast majority are making a loss. So I think there would be more people claiming tax back on their losses than there would be people paying tax into the kitty from their gains. It would make no sense.

 

Poker_Fail

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

In Response to Re: do they pay tax? : These are all paid for with your council tax and every household pays council tax. Although there are some Poker Players making a profit, the vast majority are making a loss. So I think there would be more people claiming tax back on there losses than there would be people paying tax into the kitty from their gains. It would make no sense.  
Posted by POKERTREV

This.

Just think, due to rake much more money goes into a poker site than comes out of it.

rancid

Poker players are parasites to the goverment, PAY YOUR INCOME TAX !!



































............................ j/k

loonytoons

A while back the inland revenue went to court to try to prove that poker was predominently a game of skill. If they could prove this, taxes would have to be collected as this would be a form of income. In their wisdom the courts ruled against the government and declared that poker was primarily a game of luck and was therefor gambling and should be treated the same as any other gambling activity such as betting on the horses, dogs etc etc. With the reform of the gambling act taxes were no longer deducted on either the gambling wager or the gambling winnings (some may remember when you paid 10% tax on all bets, you had a choice of either pre outcome or post outcome) now all the taxes are collected via the bookies/betting companies. A high stakes player may not be paying taxes paye exactly, but he/she will definitely be contributing a great deal to the taxman indirectly by way of rake (sky pokers profits and therefore taxable) Just because an online player of any game does not have a written definable tax deduction in terms of earnings, they do definitely contribute even if they don't realise it!

ACEGOONER

I do believe tax is payable on poker earnings in the US, would be interesting to see how the IRS enforces this. But its true if the HMRC in the UK cant keep tabs on cash in hand builders, what chance have they got with poker players. 

The downside to poker earnings not being considered taxable is its a nightmare getting a mortgage. I cant think of one lender who in their right mind would lend money to a poker pro.  

windamon

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

I do believe tax is payable on poker earnings in the US, would be interesting to see how the IRS enforces this. But its true if the HMRC in the UK cant keep tabs on cash in hand builders, what chance have they got with poker players.  The downside to poker earnings not being considered taxable is its a nightmare getting a mortgage. I cant think of one lender who in their right mind would lend money to a poker pro.  
Posted by ACEGOONER

ok so thanks for all your input guys,it seems to me that pkr plys are the only self employed earners that can AVOID NOT EVADE tax in this country! happy new year!!!

debdobs_67

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

In Response to Re: do they pay tax? : ok so thanks for all your input guys,it seems to me that pkr plys are the only self employed earners that can AVOID NOT EVADE tax in this country! happy new year!!!
Posted by windamon

Its NOT just pkr players remember , pro horse  or dog gamblers are also exempt , as looney said any pro gambler doesnt pay income tax

simuk

No income tax. I paid off my student loan two weeks after graduating for uni. 

Have been getting some good karma ever since. You may have noticed... :P

unknown_username

no income tax no VAT no money back no guarentee.....

FCHD

How about National Insurance? Do pro poker players "pay their stamp"?

cleansweep

In Response to do they pay tax?:

Might not pay Tax but the Rake paid to enter tournaments must be more expensive
 

PUCPOUND

So how much proof do they need to keep to justify to the taxman where they get their income from

loonytoons

In Response to Re: do they pay tax?:

So how much proof do they need to keep to justify to the taxman where they get their income from
Posted by PUCPOUND

Please understand, they need no proof to justify any ''Taxable income'' as they have no ''Taxable income'' to HMR&C as it is not ''Taxable income'' it is winnings through gambling. A lottery winner would pay no tax on his/her multi millions in winnings (though would on the interest) as would a pro layer winning thousands of pounds on the horses pay no tax on the winnings. Be assured though that the companies where they ''earn'' their profit are taxed so therefore the taxman does definitely get his slice. Some people seem to be saying pro poker players are nothing more than tax dodgers who pay nothing into the system but receive all the benefits that a paye employee would be entitled to, but this is completely wrong (and i am not a pro player lol) it just seems that way to the uninitiated. I would rather they turned their attention to all the benefit fraudsters out there, they are the real villains, not the poker players! 

pod1

i pay vat on the wine i drink whilst playing poker and thats more than most people pay in income tax!

pod1

ps ,just took me first quid off of lolfold i can die happy now. (sbvbb)

ACEGOONER

As another poster said all poker players pay tax indirectly. Rake forms part of sky pokers trading profits which are subject to corporation tax. Just like any other consumer a poker player pays VAT on the purchase of a good or service, stamp duty on house purchase, IHT on death assuming they have a large bankroll! 

The only tax they are really exempt from is income tax.

penguin7

Other countries do see poker winnings as taxable income. In USA all winnings are taxed at 30%,

With a win over $3000 (?)  in a casino the tax is automatically deducted. But when an American fills out his tax return he can claim deductions on losses.

The system sounds pretty unworkable and it also applies to online winnings, which is odd because online poker is illegal !

But it is only applied to American citizens. An English player cashing in Vegas has to fill in a tax form to receive an ITIN number and then gets paid in full. I still have my ITIN number (blatant brag!).

When I banked some of my winnings I had to show it to prove it was not drug money, or some other money laundering.

I believe some local players use this as a loophole by claiming they are playing aith a foreigners cash.

Some European countries have similar systems, so maybe we should not be too smug about our situation in the UK, particularly with online poker.

As many poker sites are registered offshore and not paying the full rate of tax, and with the growth of poker here, there is bound to be some civil servant reviewing the issue already.