I would start by saying that english is not my first language so without a doubt i will make some mistakes typing this. Apparently my government, thinking about the good of the people they decide to put a tax of 40% from withdrawals taken from gambling sites. So the thing is like this, if i deposit 500$ and i withdraw let s say 400, the government would take 160$ of this 400, even if i m losing, there is no profit. I know in the past it was a thread with a guy who was playing from Thailand or Vietnam but i can t find it anymore. My next questions are those: Is it hard to relocate in one of those country? Is it hard to open a bank account? Do you know another country where you can relocate for online poker ?Somewhere where taxes are not obscene like in my country. My bankroll is small, like 10k (don t laugh).

Hungary is legal right? Ain't far from romania and I think some of the players from switzerland germany slovakia etc relocated there. Thailand etc atleast were poopular back in the days so it can't be that hard to locate there and I think they are still pretty cheap to live.

Yeah, but i want some information from people who actually are doing this and know all the legals so they cand give me all the insights. it would be great if i had to relocate to hungary cause it s very close, but i don t know how hard would be for example to open a bank account there.

Just read the Thailand thread here. For longer stays you need an appropriate visa, but it is not very difficult to get. Don't know exactly about Vietnam but I think a visa there is also fairly easy to get

A few possibilities:

- play on the apps or sites where you can withdraw via crypto then cash out via crypto ATMs in your country
- relocate somewhere else in EU where poker is not heavily taxed (in the case scenario that you care about poker tax). Most EU countries, you will need to sign a lease for a one year apartment rental to have an utility bill to open a bank account so probably gonna need between 2 to 4 months rent depending on the country.
- Georgia (the country) used to be one of the easiest and welcoming countries for banking, 1 year visa and super easy to open a bank account there, talking about pre covid not sure how it is now.
- Thailand, not sure how easy it is now to open a bank account on a tourist visa but worst case scenario, you pay $1k-$1.5k for a 1 year student visa (1 year no need to visa run) and opening a bank account gonna be like a walk in the park and no need to go to the school if you choose the right school.. more info on this if you ask in the Thailand thread

GL frate

georgia is still easy and you can now enter with zero vaccination checks or PCR tests. not sure on bank accounts but 2p2 user fossilkid93 is a nice guy and there now, he could let you know.
Almost anywhere in asia is going to be more value than anywhere latin america. Many countries now have online bank accounts you can open much easier than through traditional branches - but be sure to research A LOT before going to be sure this is the case. Worst comes to worst and there's maybe 150 poker players in Playa del Carmen, Mexico - probably the largest city for expat poker guys right now and they can help you out. It's also one of the only cities in Mexico/latin america where you really don't need to speak spanish.
I'd recommend asia for someone starting out, both financially and travel-wise. It's easy, safe, cheap, and plenty of broken english - TONS of eastern european guys. good luck man, thanks for bringing this to our attention as well

Georgia is the easiest country for expats I've ever seen.

SIM cards are quick, rideshare and food delivery apps easy to use, and I got a bank account in about 10 minutes, which is the standard. They also have some type of 1% tax program for individual entrepreneurs, although I believe gambling isn't allowed, but maybe there's a workaround. Also you get a free 1 year stay just by arriving, and other expats say you can do a visa run and get a fresh year, so you could stay indefinitely provided the rules don't change.

Depending on what you're looking for, Tbilisi or maybe Batumi could be solid options. Tbilisi is a pretty nice city with a Euro feel in lots of parts, although the climate is pretty extreme (hot in Summer pretty cold in Winter) so if year round warm weather is a must, it probably wouldn't be a great option.

My girlfriend and I prefer larger cities, so will be moving on after our year is up b/c while Tbilisi is nice, at just over a million people, feels a bit boring for us.

We'd like to check out SEA, but we prefer 3-12 month stays in a place and that seems hard to do there (especially for my gf with a Mexican passport), plus we're traveling with our chihuahua and some countries have super strict entry policies for pets.

As such, we're probably gonna travel thru the Balkans next year (for sure Romania, probably Serbia, Sarajevo, Croatia, etc.) and then probably Buenos Aires after that.

Isn't Pokerstars banned in Georgia?

No Stars in Georgia

is this happening on 1st of August 1 2022 or 1st of January 2023 ? I see conflicting info.

Also, what if we withdraw using an e-wallet, skrill and order a skrill prepaid card to withdraw at a Romanian ATM? can the government still tax us then?

After having investigated the issue in more detail, here's the reality of the situation:
this law comes into effect on August 1 2022

the 40% tax is only on large withdrawals
if you can keep your withdrawals small, the tax is 10%
all you need to do is make frequent, small withdrawals and you will effectively get taxed 10%
and maybe Stars charges you an extra fee for every extra withdrawal you make

but I'm still not clear if withdrawing to Skrill instead of a card or bank account and then using a Skrill issued card to physically withdraw funds from a local ATM is taxable
does anyone know? I knew some grinders from Germany who did this.

what does large and small mean bro?
do you have any sources for this, seems to just be a lot of unsubstantiated rumors still

not rumors unfortunately, it's been announced via official governmental channels

there were rumors of a flat 40% tax on withdrawals for anything "gambling" related (sports bets, casino games, poker, etc.) to go up on January 1st 2023, but now they're going with a tiered approach to taxing; small withdrawals (~600 USD) get 10%, then 20, then 40% for big cash outs.

obviously nobody aware of this is going to be cashing out big online so **** knows what these clowns are doing

Your tax is held by the operator on withdrawal, doesn't matter where you cash out. Once the money is in your skrill / whatever account it's already been taxed. At least that's how it is on stars. For example you select $1000 on your cash out, you get informed of the 1% tax and the actual withdrawal ammount, which is $990.

Georgia is great, its cheap as well. You can get 365 tourist visa and it's easy to renew, just in and out, best of all, no taxes and very easy to open a bank account. For business it's probably the easiest and straight forward no politics country on the planet, labor is very cheap, a lawyer makes like $800 a month.

wtf why would anyone (from EU) go to georgia? There are milions better options

they finally settled on 3% tax on withdrawals sub ~2k$, effective August 1st 2022
no big deal

Are those per withdrawal or total withdrew in a fiscal year?

It's only specified that the 3% tax is taken on each withdrawal by the source (poker operator) so I guess it's per individual withdrawal and not total cash outs in a fiscal year.
If you find out differently, please let us know.

Why would anyone in their right mind try to make withdrawals above $2000 and not try making multiple withdrawals below?

Does the law impose some sort of limit on transactions over a time period some sort of overseeing that deters the structuring of those transactions like there is in the US?

1 percent tax on external income and one of the easiest countries in the world to setup a business. Georgia is like many other Balkan countries but without the bureaucracy. Not super cheap atm because I believe lot of Russians moving there.

Looked into Batumi because as you Tbilisi extreme climate. Yeah 1 percent tax on external income. Very easy to setup company there also and get limited liability. Top 10 country in the world for ease of starting a business.

It's still cheaper than every other country mentioned in this thread. Turkey might be close.

Rents are the main thing then went up due to the Russians. A $500/month place might be $750/month now. My place is in the fanciest neighbourhood, brand new 2-BR with jacuzzi and balcony, on 6th floor, fully furnished, and it costs $1k/month.

Some products are a bit pricy if they have to be imported, but local restaurants and food are super cheap. Total bill is $12 for 2 soups, 5 dumplings (khinkhali), and 2 drinks at our fave local place.

Phone plan is $7/month for unlimited data.

Public transport .33 a trip, or Bolt (like Uber) will cost like $1-4 for most places you'll need to go.

Batumi's climate isn't that great either, depending what you like. Doesn't get too hot during Summer, but it's unusually gray and cloudy for most of the year and a bit chilly for 8 months.

Hello. sorry for upping such an old theme, but can somebody please let me know, would tax will up from 3% to 10% for 3000 RON withdrawal and higher for any bigger amount from 01 january 2023? according to such links:

https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-co...omania-40-tax/

https://www.romania-insider.com/roma...anges-tax-code

https://playtech.ro/stiri/noile-taxe...-astazi-534392

because if that is true, its unnormal to pay that much