Apparently, massive tax bills are not only an exclusive phenomena reserved by the IRS in the United States as it seems that this goes on internationally as well. Over on leading Internet poker discussion forum, twoplustwo.com, a speculative post has been making the rounds regarding a possibly exorbitant tax bill that would leave most gasping for air if it arrived on their doorstep. The amount of the potential tax is a staggering $150 million.
The receiver of the potentially disastrous tax bill is online poker sensation who generates front page news is none other than Isildur1, aka Viktor Blom. Shortly after the veil was removed on his identity, observers from around the globe began to speculate what the revelation would mean in terms of any tax liability attached to his name and whether or not part of the PokerStars sponsorship deal would provide any type of relief to that end. That speculation picked up steam as a snowball beginning its descent down a snow covered mountain following a report in a newspaper called newspaper ‘Dagens Industri,’ which is a Swedish Tax Authority. According to the newly released report, there is a very real possibility that Blom can expect a visit, and soon, from the Skatteverket, the Swedish version of the Internal Revenue Service.
In the country, professional poker players remain exempt from taxes unless the games in which they take part in reside outside of the European Union. In those cases, players are subject to a 30% tax on all winnings. By this assumption, it does not seem clear exactly how anyone could arrive at the $150 million quoted in the article. According to published online statistics, Blom was involved in about $4.5 billion worth of pots, and anyone who followed those games knows very well that he did not win most of the time. Back in November 2009, Blom, who was unknown at the time, turned $2000 into over $2 million in a 2 week span and quickly blew it all, wit interest. In order to be on the hook for all those millions, Blom would have had to have won over $450 million, a figure that wouldn’t be reached if you added up the winnings of the top 100 money earners in the past 12 mounts.
In the article, there were some interesting quotes from Dag Hardyson, a spokesperson from the Swedish Tax Authority. He said:
“Internet poker is something we’re looking into and I know this poker player [Isildur1], but I can’t comment on whether we’ve opened a case.”
Very vague indeed.
The bottom line is that the Skatteverket would be very hard pressed to have any success should they decide to press forward. According to pokertableratings.com, one of the most reliable poker tracking applications, Isildur1 is currently showing a -$2,630,230 loss at Full Tilt, and a -$521,523 loss at PokerStars. Perhaps when it’s all said and done, Blom could expect a nice refund check in the mail…
