World Series Of Poker Runner-Up To Pay More Than Half Of Winnings In Taxes To Norwegian Government

Brian Pempus wrote:World Series Of Poker Runner-Up To Pay More Than Half Of Winnings In Taxes To Norwegian Government
Felix Stephensen Reportedly Has Not Lived In London Long Enough

The Norwegian government also finished runner-up in the World Series of Poker main event and it didn’t even have to buy-in.

Second-place finisher Felix Stephensen will lose slightly more than 50 percent of his $5.14 million in winnings, according to a report from English-language Norwegian news portal The Local.

Though me moved to London, Stephensen reportedly has not lived outside of Norway for long enough to be exempt from the country’s tax. The report said that he has only lived in in the U.K. for 2.5 years, six months short of the requirement.

Norway has had strict anti-online poker laws, but it is easing up on those.

The fact that he is a professional poker player is the reason why the tax is so high, the report added.

For the average Norwegian, the prize money would be eligible to 27 percent tax. For Felix Stephensen, the situation is different. He is registered as a professional poker player and will therefore be taxed like any other self-employed person would.

He can write-off expenses for playing the event, though.