According to several news outlets, including Pokerfuse, online and live poker players in Sweden have received correspondence from the Swedish Tax Authority called Skatteverket. Pokerfuse explained in an article published last week, “Many Swedish players have reportedly received a letter demanding that they report their winnings between the period of 2008-2011 on sites registered outside the European Economic Area. Players are given until December 10 to file these reports.”

One such letter published on PokerMagazine.se asked recipients “what internet sites you have had account with and played poker in the period 2008-2011. The issue relates to poker gaming sites organized outside the EEA, such as PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, Bodog, etc.” The letter asks for the player’s relevant poker site names and the details of any live tournaments played.

Also requested by Skatteverket are the specifics of bank account statements and online e-wallets. The piece wraps up by saying, “Please indicate if you have had sponsorship revenues from game organizers. In that case, you are requested to submit details of whom, what amount, and a copy of the contract for each year. The question also concerns sponsorship revenues from gaming providers in the EEA.”

“Printouts and screen shots” are the requested deliverables, as opposed to player-generated documents: “Account statements from game accounts, bank accounts, and electronic wallets should be printouts or screenshots from the original file, i.e. not PDF files, Excel files, or similar.”

Pokerfuse quoted a source close to Skatteverket as saying that the State had been “working [on the operation] for a few months… to produce data on profits from those involved.” Skatteverket also allegedly raided poker players’ homes last week.

Pokerfuse’s report indicated that the tax situation in Sweden appears to be a bit confusing, complicated by whether the site’s servers constitute the room’s location, as opposed to factors like the location of a company’s headquarters, as well as a recent change: “The Tax Authority has recently changed policy and instead of tax being based on individual hands, it is now based on the policy of looking at wins and losses over an annual period.”

On Two Plus Two, posters bantered about the crackdown, with one user pointing out, “Clear tax rules should have been applied years ago. Now, you don’t even know for sure what sites are counted to be EU ones.” The status of sites like Full Tilt Poker, which was re-launched under PokerStars earlier this month after its shuttering in mid-2011, also appears to be up in the air.

Another poster on Two Plus Two outlined the significant impact the Swedish Tax Authority could have on other nations in Europe and around the world: “This is much bigger than Sweden and this will be an important decision for players throughout the EU and maybe even all countries, who will see what happens. This is surely going to get appealed and end up in court and is not a clear-cut case.”

Perhaps Sweden’s best-known poker player nowadays is Viktor Blom (pictured), better known in online circles as Isildur1. Blom now lives in the United Kingdom and received a sponsorship from PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, in 2010. Earlier this year, he parted ways with PokerStarsand was signed by the resurrected Full Tilt Poker three months later.

Blom was a staple of the high-stakes scene on Full Tilt in 2009 and 2010, when he began representing PokerStars. The Swedish transplant famously won a pair of Spring Championship of Online Poker tournaments in April of this year for over $400,000 total. According to the Hendon Mob, he has over $1.5 million in career live cashes.

Feel free to discuss the news in PocketFives’ Sweden poker community.

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