WSOP Winner Faces a Heavy Tax Burden

December 2, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — The current World Series of Poker champion Peter Eastgate (22) apparently stands to lose much of his $9.1 million first prize to Denmark's taxman, according to the well-informed poker writer Thomas Somach on Poker Helper.com.   
 
As a resident of Denmark — a bastion of socialism, offering its citizens everything from free health care to free college education, and a consequently heavy tax regime — Eastgate is liable to pay 45 percent on the first $4 million he won, and an even higher 75 percent on the rest. That will only leave him with something like $2.5 million.
 
Eastgate has been looking for alternatives, according to newspapers following the story. During the enforced 117-day hiatus between making the final table and the start of the final table action, the forward-thinking Eastgate apparently explored the possibilities of moving to the U.K., where the British taxman levies a more acceptable flat 40 percent tax on winnings. That would improve Eastgate's takings considerably to $5.5 million, assuming the Danish tax authorities let him go with his winnings intact.
 
However, Somach observes, the young professional could do even better in Monaco, where there is no income tax at all for citizens.