Isildur1 Could Face Massive $150 Million Tax Bill
January 14, 2011 8:38 amFollowing the official unveiling of Isidur1’s secret identity by PokerStars on January 8, 2011, Viktor Blom may now be facing a hefty tax bill from the Swedish government.
According to the newspaper ‘Dagens Industri,’ the Swedish Tax Authority, known as Skatteverket, have already announced they intend to investigate online poker operators who run much of their business inside the country, despite claiming to be overseas based.
The newspaper is further claiming that Viktor “Isildur1” Blom may also be in line for a visit by Skatteverket, although this is yet to be confirmed.
In Sweden, poker pros do not pay tax unless the games they play are outside of the EU, in which case they are subject to a 30% tax rate on each winning pot.
Dag Hardyson from the Swedish Tax Authority told Dagens Industri that he believed that Full Tilt Poker was considered to be outside of the EU and commenting on the matter, Erik Boman, also from the tax agency, 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.”
According to Dagens Industri, Isildur1 played for around $4.5 billion on Full Tilt and could end up owing the Swedish government around $150 million in taxes if they decide to pursue the case.
The Swede once famously span a $2k bankroll into $2 million online in just three weeks, but is also prone to over gamble at times and once lost $4.2 million in a single session to Brian Hastings.
The Skatteverket may therefore have a hard time justifying an investigation or retrieving any money from him, as Isildur1 is currently showing a -$2,630,230 loss at Full Tilt, and a -$521,523 loss at PokerStars (according to pokertableratings.com).
Other Swedish poker pros in the past who were saddled with unexpected tax bills from Skatteverket, as mentioned in the Expressen newspaper, include Martin de Knijff for $1,476,015 and Daniel Larsson for $147,601.