Make sure to find out also where you can play there online and live. There is no one good deal. Germany is pretty good here as it is important to have places to play at. The Mediterranean is very limited, high taxes too. Spain has a good live scene.
Austria is tax-free up to like 10k if that's your only income, and you have a full private insurance (maybe 100 to 200 euros per month, depending on age); otherwise you are self-employed above the 10k or so and pay up to all the employment taxes also, additionally to the income taxes, that's a similar issue at many countries but not all, but it isn't mandatory to file as self-employed till they make you one.
Austria has a live scene but might have a mandatory tip that tips the rake to a bit too high possibly, and smoking may be allowed. Rents are reasonable but not all easy to get, that's a similar problem in many countries, a reasonable rent or not. Online tax for operators is very high (40%?) in Austria and the site might not accept (new) players from there for that reason, or the VIPs are lower. The Finnish-Austria network seems to have a lower rake.
A number of countries will not tax your gambling winnings including poker. UK and Malta are two examples I know, but the cost of living will be high if you want to live in a big city and Brexit will make the UK difficult for a while at least. You may also not be able to access the health service.
If you're a professional player, you should seek the advice of other professionals and take the advice of tax experts in the countries you are looking at. If you're not a professional, tax on poker winnings shouldn't really feature in your decision.
I made a request to the Austrian Ministry of Finance.
Here is their answer: "Sehr geehrter Herr Z,
einleitend wird darauf hingewiesen, dass die Beurteilung konkreter, wenngleich abstrahierter Abgabensachverhalte ausschließlich den zuständigen Finanzämtern obliegt und das Bundesministerium für Finanzen nur zu darüber hinausgehenden Rechtsfragen Stellung nehmen kann.
Vorbehaltlich dessen kann zu Ihrer Anfrage unverbindlich wie folgt Stellung genommen werden:
Nach der derzeitigen Verwaltungspraxis wird Poker als Glücksspiel betrachtet und daher werden die Einkünfte daraus als nicht steuerbar gesehen.
Auch Gewinne aus Sportwetten unterliegen nicht der Einkommensteuer.
Für eine genaue Beurteilung Ihres konkreten Sachverhalts wenden Sie sich bitte an das Finanzamt!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Bundesministerium für Finanzen"
Austria is tax-free up to like 10k if that's your only income, and you have a full private insurance (maybe 100 to 200 euros per month, depending on age); otherwise you are self-employed above the 10k or so and pay up to all the employment taxes also, additionally to the income taxes, that's a similar issue at many countries but not all, but it isn't mandatory to file as self-employed till they make you one.
