Dutch Poker Players Don't Have to Pay Taxes on Winnings

This week a Dutch court ruled that residents that play online poker in the country don't have to pay local taxes on their winnings.

The announcement comes after the Court of Appeals in the Den Bosch region ruled that the country's tax collector doesn't have the right to tax the winnings that are claimed by Dutch players that use the PokerStars.eu domain to play. The case has been ongoing for the past six years, and stems to when the tax office tried to get punters to pay a 29% tax on PokerStars earnings. Some of the players involved were looking at steep bills of more than €500,000 if they lost the case.

The European Union has a law that says that gambling winnings from the EU are exempt from taxation. The tax office claimed that PokerStars has its headquarters on the Isle of Man, which is outside of the EU technically, and therefore the players are not exempt. The court decided that the Malta center that the company has should be considered the base of the operation, and therefore is inside the EU and winnings are exempt.

The tax collector was told the wages are uncollectible, and was issued an order to pay €4,233 in court costs. The possibility exists that the case can be appealed, but there is a six week limit on appeals.