Poker Forum

Australian Tax Office (ATO) have never won a case with tring to get a pro-punter to pay taxes on their winnings,so they have giving up tring..Maybe with such a big win, they will try again

But two things going for joe.
1 he has a job (which means he has not been living off poker)
2 no body has ever heard of him (he has never won anything)

If the ATO do win, then next year I'm becoming a pro player, and travelling all around the world play and staying in the best hotels in the world

"In the U.S., if a player cashes (receives any kind of payment) in a tournament, he or she must legally pay 30 percent tax on the net profit."

Huh? What law is this? In the U.S., gambling winnings of all kinds are subject to normal income tax, but I've never heard of a special 30% tax. Furthermore, contrary to what is stated in the article, as a U.S. citizen I've never had anything withheld by the tournament venue from tournament winnings. I have cashed in WSOP, WPT, and other events.

That taxation thing is absolutely strange (not the correct word) - one person from our club was 7th in a major US tourney and won 98 000+ USD (10K buy-in) and had to pay 36% tax on his winnings - even though in our country (Estonia) there is NO tax on gambling win at all for people playing! I wonder why people still go to US to play then? What of cashgame wins then? Also taxed?

There is a 30% wittholding of some gambling winnings that applies to non-resident aliens from countries without an applicable treaty.
The statement in the article — the one I quoted in my previous comment — is false.

The rule discussed in the article is for residents of foreign countries. I watched scores of players cash in the WSOP that were from foreign countries (the cash out desk was right next to mine). Often times near riots would break out because a player would have to have 30% of his winnings withheld, unless he had an ITIN number. Here is an IRS link that does a (slightly) better job of explaining it.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=106252,00.html

Andres

He should be able to get that back as a nonresident foreigner..