Dutch authorities chase poker players for tax payments
Wednesday 21st January 2009
While there has been an online poker industry in Holland for some time, many poker players in the country would recently been opening their mail in total disbelief. It appears as though the Netherlands tax authorities have been in touch with each and every online poker site which operates in the country demanding to know details of each and every player who has ever won a prize.
After chasing a vast number of online poker players the authorities have recently mailed out a number of significant taxpayer requests with regards to undeclared taxable income in relation to poker prizes. This has created some confusion in the Dutch online poker industry where the vast majority of players do not seem to have declared their income from the sport.
However, many poker players are up in arms and complaining about the tactics used by the Dutch authorities to obtain their personal identification information and contact them directly. While in many cases the Dutch government has the final say so in such issues, there are concerns about the ease with which players were identified.
While the authorities have not confirmed how much money is outstanding it must be significant bearing in mind the time and the effort which they are currently employing.
While there has been an online poker industry in Holland for some time, many poker players in the country would recently been opening their mail in total disbelief. It appears as though the Netherlands tax authorities have been in touch with each and every online poker site which operates in the country demanding to know details of each and every player who has ever won a prize.