As you all know a regulation of poker has started in Spain. It's a dark period when we don't really know how much we must pay in taxes. It's said all the pot winnings (a madness!). Pokerstars has noticed that I haven't done anything yet so they decided to give me 100 FPP if I answer a survey. It's has been funny: How much money do you still have in .com? Why don't you play in .es? I am sure PS realized that there are too many players who stopped playing in PS.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
I actually read a bit about the situation in Spain but after all the articles that i read about the current situations i still do not know one thing: How much do you need to pay for your winnings??
Aklso you pay taxes on all the money that you win or just on the money that you cashout?
Isn't .es a play money site? I can see why players don't want to transfer there. Governments are in bad financial shape espically in the EU. So they grab all the pennies they can. Then, of course, they waste it all buy spending it in all the wrong places letting their deficits balloon out of control. Don't think we're going to see an to this dilema soon.
Posted by Macubaas: Aklso you pay taxes on all the money that you win or just on the money that you cashout?
In fact, this is the one million question!
The law is clear, every time you play a hand or a tournament, you must pay for the winnings like other gambling games like lottery or bingo. Government don't know that poker is a skill long-term game, not a game of chance. We will see what happens ...
Joined: Jan '12
Location: Canada
Age: 57 (F)
Posts: 16
that is a very rough tax law- so you will pay ?% on say winning 2 Euros and the next hand you loose 30 Euros and the following hand say you win 32 Euros- you pay more tax on money you've already won? I really don't understand (pretty obvious) I feel bad for you players in Spain-
Joined: Feb '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 5712
What a crazy state of affairs created by someone in Spain who (like many other countries struggling to keep up with everyone else) tries and find ways of making money through taxes without really realising what they are doing. There is only ever one winner and one loser....and the government will not allow you to win.
Posted by AliceB4: that is a very rough tax law- so you will pay ?% on say winning 2 Euros and the next hand you loose 30 Euros and the following hand say you win 32 Euros- you pay more tax on money you've already won?
Exactly! For instance: you win $10,000 in a tourney. After that, you lose this money playing 10 tournaments of $1,000. You should pay taxes for $10,000. It's pointless but unclear yet, so we keep having a little bit of hope in this matter.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
The survey had those questions? It’s obvious why people haven’t started playing where they should yet, but that movement will happen sooner or later. I think that, even if at the first couple of months Stars notice a crash in the number of real Money spanish players, after a while they will observe a new rally til the marginal point. The biggest problem is that now people will only withdraw from there when they have a big amount of profit, or else taxes will be too much to handle. And the 100FPP? A little drop...
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
Posted by DaMessiah666:
Posted by Macubaas: Aklso you pay taxes on all the money that you win or just on the money that you cashout?
In fact, this is the one million question!
The law is clear, every time you play a hand or a tournament, you must pay for the winnings like other gambling games like lottery or bingo. Government don't know that poker is a skill long-term game, not a game of chance. We will see what happens ...
if this is the case- then i do not see any point in playing for real money at all- it's like paying double rake: first you pay stars rake, and then on top the "government rake" in form of taxes imo illegal gambling is going to be on the rise again...and for stars- they will lose a lot of action in spain for sure
Joined: Jan '10
Location: Indonesia
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 1875
Seems tax will be count from your cash out like in US. that's easier to count , if they rake every hand is more complicated and doesn't make sense, if we play MTT for example, How will they count it ?that's chips, not real money
Posted by pochui: it's like paying double rake: first you pay stars rake, and then on top the "government rake" in form of taxes
In fact, it's more than twice: everytime you win some money you have to pay taxes for it. But if you are a regular, you invest the money in another game so if you win, you are paying taxes for the same money you have previously paid. Yes, it's mad
Posted by Serpang: Seems tax will be count from your cash out like in US. that's easier to count , if they rake every hand is more complicated and doesn't make sense, if we play MTT for example, How will they count it ?that's chips, not real money
Spanish Treasury is known as one of the best organization in Europe (it's completely true!). Poker sites are now forced to send information about absolutely everything. In cash, pot by pot. In tournaments, the ITM list. In MTT Spanish Treasury is only interested in winnings. For exemple, if you play and MTT and you lose, they don't mind it. Otherwise, if you win, you should pay for that winnings.
imo illegal gambling is going to be on the rise again...and for stars- they will lose a lot of action in spain for sure
