Quote:
Originally Posted by venivediveci
Hey, i've actually been in a similar spot. I asked a tax consulting company here to make a official request for an Internal Revenue Service, if the poker income is getting taxed.
The answer was, if you play professionally so YES and you have to pay even if you send money to offshore bank accounts.
Opening a bank account here is very very hard not just for poker players. As soon as you mention poker, you will be definitely declined as a customer.
After everything, i went to UK where its tax free and much less trouble. Although opening a bank account as poker player won't be easy..
I did the same, actually I asked 3 different company. The answers are the same, they even asked the IRS about it in the past. If you have regular income/play professionally it is TAXABLE as a normal income (progressive up to 35%). It is a common misconception among poker players that it is tax free in Malta. It is certainly not.
You can try to live under the hood, which works fine as long as it doesn't. Most players take the risk, it is def a personal choice, but don't fool yourself by the advise of random people in an online forum (including me). Ask for a professional advise, especially if the amount is significant (would be hard to recover) and you are risk averse when it comes to taxes.
Opening a bank account in Malta as a poker player is impossible these days. Period.
UK has similar taxation rules, I was told by 2 out of 4 tax adviser that it is taxable even in the UK if you are a professional (it is considered trading). Although I do not know anyone who pay taxes there, and haven't heard of anyone who get caught. So it is a safer bet for sure, but not 100%. Again, ask professionals. Tax adviser is a profession for a reason.
Not sure why I wrote down all these, poker players gonna poker players and won't give a single fk even if their life depends on it.
gl