Tax board targets Swedish poker sites
Sweden's Tax Board (Skatteverket) is to launch a special programme targeting web sites earning money from poker and gaming. The board expects to recover millions of kronor in undeclared revenue from hundreds of web site owners.
"It's not individual poker players we're after, it's sites who live on sending players through to gaming sites," said Dag Hardyson, national project leader for the Tax Board's internet unit.
According to the Tax Board's calculations, hundreds of Swedes have set up poker-related sites on the internet. They attract players with information, articles and other content, in order to then send them on to the real gambling sites. These 'poker affiliates' are often paid for every player who clicks through to the gambling site.
"There are more advanced pages which have agreements with gambling sites and which earn a proportion of the amount the players spend. For some the income can be several million kronor," said Dag Hardyson.
The tax board said it is preparing for two processes: owners of poker sites will first be taxed and then possibly prosecuted for tax evasion.
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"It's not individual poker players we're after, it's sites who live on sending players through to gaming sites," said Dag Hardyson, national project leader for the Tax Board's internet unit.
According to the Tax Board's calculations, hundreds of Swedes have set up poker-related sites on the internet. They attract players with information, articles and other content, in order to then send them on to the real gambling sites. These 'poker affiliates' are often paid for every player who clicks through to the gambling site.
"There are more advanced pages which have agreements with gambling sites and which earn a proportion of the amount the players spend. For some the income can be several million kronor," said Dag Hardyson.
The tax board said it is preparing for two processes: owners of poker sites will first be taxed and then possibly prosecuted for tax evasion.
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