Irish tax and poker

pok3rplaya

Does anyone have solid information on the stance of the Irish government with regards to taxing profits made from playing poker online? Or even somewhere I can find good information?

Just a little background incase it helps. I'm currently registered as a full time student. I'm planning on playing full time over the summer for 13 weeks during which time I estimate I will earn €30,000 to €40,000. I'm not 100% sure but I believe the site I play at is EU based, at least the reciepts for my withdrawals come from a company based in Sweden.

Any comments welcome. Thanks.

5starpool

This has been discussed before and the upshot is that there are no tax implications. From an Irish government point of view Gambling is not taxed, and poker comes under that umbrella.

pok3rplaya

Sorry I forgot to try a search.

Is it true that gambling winnings can be taxed if the site is non-EU based?

bohsman

pok3rplaya wrote:

Sorry I forgot to try a search.

Is it true that gambling winnings can be taxed if the site is non-EU based?

No. Im sure if you offer the tax office money they wont refuse, I dont know of any site that is EU based btw.

Doc Farrell

At a win rate of 59 euro an hour you can buy your own island and set up a benevolent dictatorship. thats what i did. before i lost.

Ollieboy

pok3rplaya wrote:

Does anyone have solid information on the stance of the Irish government with regards to taxing profits made from playing poker online? Or even somewhere I can find good information?

Just a little background incase it helps. I'm currently registered as a full time student. I'm planning on playing full time over the summer for 13 weeks during which time I estimate I will earn €30,000 to €40,000. I'm not 100% sure but I believe the site I play at is EU based, at least the reciepts for my withdrawals come from a company based in Sweden.

Any comments welcome. Thanks.

As a student, maybe you should study first and see if this is possible, I know loads of players that would love to be making that sort of money in 12 weeks.

Why not give us a weekly report here, just to see if its possible.

Ollie

And it is tax free and nobody as a server based in Europe and why are you playing a Swedish site and you only join this site today? Is your real name Brian Cowan by any chance?

handsfree

its €50 an hour for a 50 hour week for 12 weeks.

good luck

pok3rplaya

Yeah I know it sounds crazy but I think I can do it.

I currently have 20,000 hands of five tabling 100NL for 11ptBB/100 and 20,000 hands of five tabling 200NL for 7.9ptBB/100 (I've played >120k hands total but mostly at smaller stakes).

I also have 10k hands at 400NL at an unsustainable winrate (>10ptBB/100) but it plays the same as 200NL and I feel I can beat it pretty comfortable long-term. I'm starting with a $12,000 bankroll.

So, say I 4 table 400NL at 5ptBB/100 = ~$80/hour.
I play for 7 hours a day (normal working day) = $560/day.
5 days a week for 13 weeks = $36,400 = €29,000.

I could possibly move to 600NL halfway through this challenge.

And hey, whats the harm in aiming high!?

loosecannon

best of luck in your efforts over the summer pokerplayer, make sure to keep the boarder's up to date with your latest news!

RoundTower

If your figures aren't bull**** this sounds reasonable.

shoutman

Do you ever play live pokerplayer?
Have you played the 250 freezeout in drogheda?

pok3rplaya

shoutman wrote:

Do you ever play live pokerplayer?
Have you played the 250 freezeout in drogheda?

Apart from the odd TCD Card society MTT for a laugh and the Dublin Student Championship thing in the Gresham no I don't play live poker. I'm thinking about going and playing some cash games in Drogheda sometime but probably not before my exams are finished in June. I probably play too tight for live play and I don't really see the point when I can play 4-5 tables at once online. I also don't like the idea of taking cash off my online BR to go play a game that I'm not familliar with.

I haven't played the 250 FO in Drog. How many players does this usually attract? I'm not bankrolled to support a full on €250 MTT.

shoutman

Fair enough, if you only play cash games online, it wouldn't be reccommended to throw yourself into a 250 mtt live game, normally it attracts between 70-130 players I think, shortstack runs it.
Its a great game though.

But I think you should look into playing some live poker as well, I find it a lot more enjoyable then playing online, also ive been told that the standard of live play is a lot better then that of online play.... well most of the time anyway.

pok3rplaya

shoutman wrote:

Fair enough, if you only play cash games online, it wouldn't be reccommended to throw yourself into a 250 mtt live game, normally it attracts between 70-130 players I think, shortstack runs it.
Its a great game though.

But I think you should look into playing some live poker as well, I find it a lot more enjoyable then playing online, also ive been told that the standard of live play is a lot better then that of online play.... well most of the time anyway.

Yeah I'm not bankrolled for that. I might look it up sometime for fun. I'm somewhat of a recreational MTT player, biggest cash was $2800 for first in a $30 oline MTT. I don't really play many of them.

I'm sure I'll try live play sometime during the summer, for the experience if nothing else. Especially since I'm lucky enough to have a 200NL live game so close to where I live.

joebhoy1916

You play with boylesports?

pok3rplaya

joebhoy1916 wrote:

You play with boylesports?

Nah I play on a site called Fortune Poker, its part of the Boss network along with Sportingbet and some other room.