Is Leaving Anonymity Taxable?

Isildur1 could get a Swedish tax demand Even though the media speculations that reputable online high stakes poker player Isildur1 is actually Viktor Blom turned out to be right, it remains to be seen whether the latest speculation in the Swedish media will follow the same steps. Namely, it has been widely considered that his discarding of anonymity may cost him dearly, as he can now expect a hefty tax bill. What initially pointed that such a development may take place was an article in the Swedish financial newspaper Dagens Industri, which reported an announcement of the Swedish taxman (Skatteverket) that it was going to investigate the situation in online poker companies which are allegedly based overseas but still keep most of their operations in Sweden. Having this in mind, the outcome may be less than favorable for Blom, as according to the newspaper's speculations, he could be facing a Swedish tax bill of up to 1 billion kronor ($149 million). However, the speculation didn't trigger any specific comments from tax officials, as Skatteverket spokesman Erik Boman only said: "Internet poker is something we're looking into and I know this poker player, but I can't comment on whether we've opened a case." This young poker pro became famous for his bold high stakes play and interesting encounters with some of the biggest names in the industry, and he became the latest addition to the Pokerstars professional team, which further led to his 'unmasking' at the site's Caribbean Adventure live tournament recently. He reportedly lives in London at the moment, but he came from a small town in Sweden, Ed. The player, who started playing for fun at a rather early age of 14, is well known for his rollercoaster success, as his career sees him winning and losing millions in a rather relaxed play which entertains thousands of online spectators. On bad weeks, he lost as much as $3.2 million to Phil Ivey playing NLHE, and clashed on PLO with Patrik Antonius losing $3 million in a day. Still, he also knows how to return the following day and win back $2 million. Still, probably the most famous loss he saw was against Cardrunners pro Brian Hastings, in a controversial contest in which it could be noted that two other players had colluded, studying over 30,000 hands of Blom's play, which at the time cost him immense $4.2 million. In addition, Hastings later took him another $1.5 million in another session. However, that doesn't seem to disturb Blom. As he philosophically says: "I had some rough days. But I'm not worried. I know I can always win money."