DO BETTORS HAVE TO PAY TAXES FROM THEIR WINNINGS?
The online gambling market still has big ambiguities when it comes to legislation (especially for specific countries) and sometimes bettors have difficulties understanding if they need to pay taxes or not for their winnings from online gambling. We would like to clarify this subject and advise bettors about what they need to do in this situation.
First of all, you need to find out if the online betting sites you use are licensed and pay taxes in your country. If the online bookmaker is licensed in your country, then this means they already pay taxes and you no longer need to do anything (basically, the online bookmaker takes care of everything and pays a percentage from your stake/winnings to your government). It's like betting in a normal betting shop.
Second, if the online bookmakers you use are not licensed in your country, this means they do not pay any kind of taxes to your government. In such cases you need to check your tax income legislation (or call a lawyer if it's easier) and find out exactly if you need to declare your winnings from online gambling in taxes. Usually, when the online gambling market is not regulated in a country, you do not need to declare and pay income tax for your winnings (this could apply for all types of winnings, games, contests, basically any kind of income that's a result of work).
However, it's not unusual to find out that indeed you need to declare and pay taxes for online gambling. If this is true, you need to know exactly what the limits are for which you need to pay. Some governments do not ask for taxes unless you win over a specific level or if you withdraw to your bank account a higher amount. For example, in some countries, you need to declare only if you withdraw over 150 EUR/day from online bookmaker. If you withdraw 120 EUR, you don't need to declare and pay any income tax.
The point is that you do not have to declare anything unless you received money into your bank account. And the most important thing: carefully check the income tax legislation in your country in order to find out the exact details!
In order to be a responsible citizen, it's your duty to be informed and make sure you respect all the laws from your country. In case you need to pay taxes for your winnings and you don't, the consequences can be really tough: huge fines or even jail.
You may also want to read the following:
Maximum winnings
Big winnings payouts
Big winnings payout problems
