Imagine the feeling of sitting down at a professional-grade poker table with a few grand stacked up in front of you in a set of chips, you land a couple of pocket aces, proceed to go all in, and turn out with over 100 thousand!
Though that feeling seems too good, there is a common conception on the casino scene that professional players must pay taxes on their casino winnings. That 100 thousand that you won couple potentially be split with the government – play at Cozino .
But is it true? Do professional casino players really have to pay taxes on their winnings? Well, to set a lot of you ambitious high rolling big dogs out there at a bit of ease, the answer for UK casino professionals is no. While other countries may vary on their laws, if you are playing in a casino, online or offline, in the UK then your professional winnings are not split with taxes… brilliant!
Why do professional casino players in the UK not have to pay taxes on their winnings?
You might have heard that in the USA, professional casino players have got to split at least 25% of their winnings on taxes with the government, but why is this not the case in the UK?
· Law changes influenced by Gordon Brown in 2001 made it illegal for taxes to be put on the winnings of any UK professional, or unprofessional, casino player no matter how big or small the winnings are. Taxes were also forbidden on bets meaning that bookies could no longer put misleading prices on their odds.
· It sounds too good to be true, does it not? You could be entering a UK casino and leaving with every penny that you rightfully risked.
· This change came about as a movement to bring more fairness to the UK bettor rather than the casino. Instead of charging the player who won the bet, the bookies are instead taxed.
· One might be thinking that this was a move kindness from the government, to take away from the big man and give to the little, however, casino players in the UK do not pay tax on their winnings because the UK government realised that they could make a hell of a lot more dough by taxing the big dogs themselves, the bookies and casinos.
Do professional casino players in other countries have to pay tax on their winnings?
Some of you high-rolling bettors might be thinking that it is time to move to Scunthorpe because UK casino players pay no taxes on their winnings. Just before you book that flight and by a bungalow in the bustling town in North Lincolnshire, here are some other countries’ tax rules regarding casino players winnings:
1. France imposes a 2% poker winnings tax on casino players
2. The Netherlands have a lottery winnings tax
3. The USA can tax up to 25% on professional players
So, it turns out that if you are a big dog professional casino player then perhaps you should move to the UK to pay no taxes on your winnings.
