SWEDEN'S TAX MAN GOING AFTER ONLINE GAMBLING AFFILIATES

13 July 2007

"It's not individual poker players we're after, it's sites who live on sending players through to gaming sites..."

Swedish media reports in The Local are that the government's Tax Board (Skatteverket) expects to raise millions in taxes on previously undeclared income when it launches a special programme targeting web sites earning money from poker and gaming.

"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 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 if they do not pay up.

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