Best country for USA players to move

[Sven2812]

Different sources say different things about taxation in Germany, but bottomline is.

1) Poker is treated as a gambling game in Germany
2) You don't have to pay taxes on money won in gambling games (blackjack roulette, lottery whatever)

[flash237]

Does anyone have any info on Chile? How is ipoker taxed in Chile? Is residency difficult to get?

[thepizzlefosho]

Originally Posted by PrimordialAA

90 days actually, at least in europe and most other places, but most landlords wont let u rent there, nor will power/water/cable companies give you an agreement without a visa or whatever, so yea you could go stay some other place for 90 days, and keep getting restamped for your 'tourist visa', but its unlikely that stars/ftp will allow you based on that, since it's not a real relocation (fwiw I lived in europe for 1.5 years like this, but all the paperwork was in my wifes name), so it really depends on what stars/FTP will accept, i've already sent them an email about it, but we'll wait and see what they say (imo its highly unlikely they will accept the described scenario).

couldnt you just get some kind of PO Box for an address in one of these countries? get a cell phone or something for a utility bill? Play behind a VPN in the US, and then withdrawal to your foreign bank account when you need to?

I'm just wondering if something like this could be setup during a single visit without having to relocate permanently. I would assume that as long as you were setting this up in a country that doesn't tax gambling income you wouldnt be violating any laws.

[powder_8s]

You can visit Canada for 3 months no problem. You can easily get an extension to that. There are no taxes on gambling earnings in Canada, but you will still have to pay your normal taxes to the US govt.

[Errk2G]

Originally Posted by flash237

Yes I would say the legality of online poker is very high on my list of priorities for a place to move. I have played poker online for the past 7 years and it has been my sole source of income. I support my wife and 3 children on this income. It would be extremely difficult to duplicate my wages/lifestlye doing anything else. I understand if online poker is a hobby for you and not a "priority". There are many of us out here however that it is a big deal for. I don't appreciate my "values" being question when this is how I provide for my family but this is 2p2 so I guess it's to be expected.

Word, U tell'em brother

[sharp]

I did relocated (officially) from France to the Netherlands to be able to keep on playing on .com
European laws stipulate that any citizen from Schengen can freely relocate in any country. Yet it took me few months to be able to settle there. I have an official address. But it is not enough in order to open a bank account; I needed to register to have a social security number. My first two requests were rejected since I didn’t have a job there.
One of my friends, a US gambler has never been able to settle officially in France for the same reasons.
I am living in Thailand. Or I should say I am a permanent tourist in Thailand. Great country and probably the last where poker online will be prohibited. Well officially it is. It is easy to corrupt some people and get a 1 year VISA. But I would not trust any bank to put my bank roll here. And neteller is not legal.
Good luck to everybody

[PrimordialAA]

Originally Posted by thepizzlefosho

couldnt you just get some kind of PO Box for an address in one of these countries? get a cell phone or something for a utility bill? Play behind a VPN in the US, and then withdrawal to your foreign bank account when you need to?

I'm just wondering if something like this could be setup during a single visit without having to relocate permanently. I would assume that as long as you were setting this up in a country that doesn't tax gambling income you wouldnt be violating any laws.

Yea, if the poker sites would accept a PO box this would work, but its highly unlikely they will

[thepizzlefosho]

Originally Posted by PrimordialAA

Yea, if the poker sites would accept a PO box this would work, but its highly unlikely they will

interesting. do you think there is a reason they would prefer you have a permanent address? I would think that an address is simply a means of tracing you should they need to contact you, and anyone paying for a PO Box would also have it linked to a permanent address in another place.

I know all of these questions may seem silly or desperate to non professionals. But I have some time to decide what I want to do with myself in the near future, and the feasability of setting up a foreign "residency" and bank account could greatly impact some of my decisions.

and I appreciate any and all info from people that have done this or researched it.

[jlevu]

Why not go to Canada? Very little cultural adjustment and close to home.

[thepizzlefosho]

Originally Posted by jlevu

Why not go to Canada? Very little cultural adjustment and close to home.

i think in general you need to get a permanent work visa there which is much more difficult to obtain. and I was under the impression from some canadian pros that you did need to pay taxes in canada which means I'd have to pay taxes twice.

but I'd certainly appreciate any additional info about pursuing this option in canada.

[PrimordialAA]

Originally Posted by thepizzlefosho

interesting. do you think there is a reason they would prefer you have a permanent address? I would think that an address is simply a means of tracing you should they need to contact you, and anyone paying for a PO Box would also have it linked to a permanent address in another place.

I know all of these questions may seem silly or desperate to non professionals. But I have some time to decide what I want to do with myself in the near future, and the feasability of setting up a foreign "residency" and bank account could greatly impact some of my decisions.

and I appreciate any and all info from people that have done this or researched it.

Well if you've ever had to go through PS security, they will ask you for proof of residence with a utility bill to prove it. They seem to be hard on the relocation stuff, so I would assume its as thorough if not more so

[IntenseDawg]

Originally Posted by thepizzlefosho

i think in general you need to get a permanent work visa there which is much more difficult to obtain. and I was under the impression from some canadian pros that you did need to pay taxes in canada which means I'd have to pay taxes twice.

but I'd certainly appreciate any additional info about pursuing this option in canada.

I thought most countries have double tax agreements where we can't get taxed twice on the same income?

[thepizzlefosho]

Originally Posted by IntenseDawg

I thought most countries have double tax agreements where we can't get taxed twice on the same income?

i wasn't sure if that was true for most countries or just most major first world semi-allies.

[StopTheRape]

pokerstars.fr

[Stinky Stu]

Originally Posted by jlevu

Why not go to Canada? Very little cultural adjustment and close to home.

That's fine if you're going to sit in a room and just play poker all day for a living, but with all due respect, it doesn't stack up to the U.S. once you go outside. I'd miss the big U.S. cities too much, where the actual culture is. NYC, etc.