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Found this article here http://gamingintelligencegroup.com/gig/content/view/625/2/
Investigations Loom for Swedish Online Gaming Affiliates
Sweden’s tax authority has issued a request for information to the country’s internet infrastructure providers as part of their ongoing investigation of online commerce. Of notable interest to the tax authority is the income generated by online gaming affiliates active in the Swedish market.
The Foundation for Internet Infrastructure, issuer of the country’s .se top level domain, along with web hosting companies and internet service providers are obliged to share their confidential customer information with the tax authority under the request, or face the possibility of substantial fines for failing to do so.
By the end of October, many such organisations had already begun transferring data, specifically the names, addresses, company registration numbers and social security numbers of individuals operating any form of online business, either in Sweden, or by Swedish citizens.
The data will be used in conjunction with the Xenon program, a web spider used to find evidence of tax evasion by the authorities in Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Erik Boman, Information Director of Sweden’s Tax Authority (Skatteverket) told Gaming Intelligence Group, “One of the most interesting sectors for us to look at is the online gaming industry”.
The online gaming affiliates are being targeted because of the substantial income that many of them generate, which the authorities believe may not always be declared, however all online gaming revenue is of interest to the tax authority.
The affiliates are also an easy target to begin with compared to the gaming companies themselves, as there is little doubt concerning where the income should be taxed, namely the country in which the affiliate operator is resident. Even in cases where the affiliate operates through a company registered in an offshore tax haven, there is a possibility that the taxman will identify it as an artificial structure and tax the owners of the company directly. Such income would be taxed on top of an individuals declared taxable salary, which in Sweden could be at a rate as high as 57%. The tax authority also has it within its power to impose five years worth of back taxes, in addition to a penalty of up to 40% of the value of undeclared tax.
Most recently, Sweden and the Isle of Man signed an agreement on the exchange of information, making it easier for the tax authorities to track how much money the affiliates have earned, and where the people behind the affiliates deposit their money.
Dag Hardyson, Project Manager of the ‘Internettrade’ investigation, expects the exercise to be completed by 2010, at which point the database of internet customer records which they have gathered will be destroyed.
“What we are looking for is income that has been earned, but for some reason not reported. We have no interest in people’s private information”.
It is estimated that as much as SEK5 billion worth of taxes annually goes undeclared from internet operations.
Mr. Hardyson was quick to point out that the investigation was being approached in a methodical manner and not based on any specific cases or suspicions of crime.
This is no big surprise and can be expected everywhere, especially as online gaming becomes regulated.
When dealing with taxes, always cross your T’s and dot your I’s, regardless of where you live.
and how exactly are they supposed to track your income?
just because you own a .se gambling domain name, the govt wouldn’t be able to tell how much you make unless they go through bank accounts of every person involved…sounds like a tough task…how much, where, when, etc..
Dominique;145002 wrote:When dealing with taxes, always cross your T’s and dot your I’s, regardless of where you live.Very good advice. The fact that the Swedish authorities have claimed they will particularly be targetting this market makes it even more important.
My advice is to do this legal… pay youre taxes! You already make prolly 10 times your neighbor, you dont want to screw this up by not paying taxes… I mean, if they find out in a coulpe of years that what u made of money you will sit there with a shitload of money in unpaid taxes…
exactly..
so you pay your taxes, but still might do an illegal thing in some countries….
Well… Im kinda in a grey zone since the law arent clear… it is illegal to market gambling in Norway, but technically I am standing in England advertising on Norwegian.. (My servers in England) It is google who is redirecting it to Norwegian people.. I have never advertised on any Norwegian pages..
So if they say anything, I’ll say F** U! if that dont help I move 8 miles over to sweden :tongue:
Life is soo good as an affiliate :roflmao:
Im half swedish and all i can say they sure have too much time on their hands running around trying to figure who earns what and were.
I am no longer registered as living in sweden so i dont care if they research me. though i do have a .se domain 3 acually. useless ones anyway! dont even have swedish players.
You mut agree they have too much time on their hands haha
:wink-wink
