Time for a Heart ATax? Here's the Scoop
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The players here were extremely concerned when they learned upon arriving in Argentina that all of their winnings in Rosario would be subject to a 31.5% tax unless they were Argentinian citizens. PokerStars has been working overtime to address the tax debacle and just posted an official response on 2+2 to clarify the situation.
PokerStars says that it was only a few days ago when they learned about a policy recently adopted by the Argentinian government that calls for the withholding of 31.5% of the prize money won by non-Argentinians in poker tournaments held within the country. PokerStars has spent the last three days challenging the tax but was only able to convince the Argentinian Tax Authority to offer one small concession. Now players will be able to deduct the amount of the tournament buy-in from their winnings before the tax is levied, so players will only be taxed on their net winnings (not accounting for travel costs or other expenses). Players will also be issued official receipts they may be able to use to offset the taxes they would otherwise have to pay in their home countries.
PokerStars says they did everything they could to alert players to the tax since they learned about it three days ago. Signs announcing the change were printed in Spanish, Portuguese, and English and posted in the registration area. According to the 2+2 post, players (including those who qualified online) were able to ask for a refund before play began.
The statement also said, "We aim to always be transparent and proactive with players about relevant taxation policies that may affect their pay-outs. For the Florianopolis event, we knew about the tax issue well in advance and included it on all relevant literature and websites. For the Rosario event, the taxation decision was made only days ago - and we've been working on behalf of players to sort things out before the cards were in the air. Unfortunately we were not able to do anything about it this year, but will continue our discussions with the intention of having a more equitable tax treatment applied to future poker tournaments in Argentina. If we can't affect that change, we'll let players know about whatever the prevailing policy is well in advance."
Here is the thread on 2+2, where you can read the complete post.
Here is a copy of the complete statement as posted on 2+2:
Hello All,
In the last few days we have become aware of a new practice recently adopted by Casino Rosario in line with Administracion Federal de Ingresos Publicos (AFIP – The Argentinian Tax Authority) policy, whereby prizes won in poker tournaments by non–residents will be subject to a 31.5% tax withholding.
We challenged this through all appropriate channels, and intense discussions occurred over the last 72 hours without any change occurring. As the LAPT and Casino de Rosario must comply with local regulations and practice, all tournaments held at this year's LAPT Argentina will be subject to this policy.
One concession that was made today was an agreement to deduct the buy-in from the pay-out before deducting the tax, in effect only taxing the net gain. So TAX WITHHOLDING = ((PRIZE - BUY-IN) x 0.315).
Winners will receive a receipt with their final prizes which clearly indicates the amount of tax withheld. These receipts may be used by players for possible tax deductions or credits in their home jurisdictions. However, please note that the LAPT can not make any warranties about the availability of tax deductions or credits in the player’s home jurisdictions or otherwise provide tax advice to players - though we hope an appropriate official receipt will make this process easier.
In respect to the comment from 'shootloose' about taxes in Canada, I know many Canadians who have had the customary 30% deduction taken from their own winnings at poker tournaments in the USA and then successfully claimed for refunds. I don't know how the process would work for taxes on winnings in Argentina, but AFIP will probably have some guidance on that.
We aim to always be transparent and proactive with players about relevant taxation policies that may affect their pay-outs. For the Florianopolis event, we knew about the tax issue well in advance and included it on all relevant literature and websites. For the Rosario event, the taxation decision was made only days ago - and we've been working on behalf of players to sort things out before the cards were in the air. Unfortunately we were not able to do anything about it this year, but will continue our discussions with the intention of having a more equitable tax treatment applied to future poker tournaments in Argentina. If we can't affect that change, we'll let players know about whatever the prevailing policy is well in advance.
Note that we printed signs yesterday in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and posted them throughout the registration area so all players would be aware of this before play started. The relevant text is also included in the TV waiver forms (which must be signed before cards are dealt). Anyone who complained was offered a refund for their buy-in, and a few PokerStars qualifiers took that option. A group of players from Uruguay also decided not to play. Other than that, 264 players (final number TBC) are competing in today's event.
Finally, I just want to apologize for the late notice on this. We tried to find an alternate solution, but taxation is unfortunately one of the least flexible issues we deal with.
. In the early stages of the tournament Vance had jumped out to an early chip lead but has been stuck in reverse. He is down to 13,700.
and Brenes check-called a bet of 2,100 from his opponent.
on the turn as the 
hit the river. Brenes led out for 3,500 and his opponent quickly made the call. Brenes turned over 
for a flopped two pair but shot from his chair in disbelief when the middle position player revealed 
for a rivered set.
and action checked to Habernig who bet 2,325. The small blind folded but the early position player made the call.
and again the early position player checked. Habernig fired out two chips, one blue and one green, totaling 5,025. His opponent wasted little time in shoving in his entire stack, about 16,000 more, but before he could even remove his hands, Habernig mucked.
. His opponent snap-called with pocket tens, and Chan hit two aces to win the flip.
.
was put out on the turn. Both players checked, as they did when the 
hit the river. The early position player showed 
but Phillips had outdrawn his opponent by pairing his 
. Phillips is now up to 16,000.