Italian poker pros' income investigated
The latest events in the Italian gambling market include reports that an operation titled “All In” has been launched by the Italian Revenue Agency and Guardia di Finanza's (Financial Police), which will audit Italian poker professionals' income.
Thereby, all income earned via interactive media such as dedicated television channels run by foreign operators and live tournaments abroad must be declared to the Italian authorities, as it is subject to personal income tax.
The operation aims at poker players who are fiscally resident in Italy but take part in tournaments abroad, including live winnings from abroad between 2006 and 2009. According to a preliminary analysis that covered more than four thousand Italian players, around Euro 73 million of winnings were not declared via the correct channels. Therefore, the authorities have called on players to visit their tax authority and disclose any winnings they "forgot" to mention before.
It has been specified by a departmental spokesperson that "online winnings have been excluded for the moment" as the authorities are focused on live winnings. However, the spokesperson also added that, as the cash games market in Italy was recently opened, poker playing fraternities should make sure they are tax compliant.
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