Casino players and taxes
Some gamers having fun in online casinos, forget about one very essential point: taxation of individuals receiving any income. This article will be devoted to this important issue, which is ignored by almost all gambling users of Runet.
Pay your taxes and sleep easy?
Online casinos are banned in the Russian Federation. To be precise, it is prohibited to open virtual gambling sites under the jurisdiction of Russia. The stay of gamers on foreign portals that provide gambling services is not prohibited, but is restricted (sites are blocked by order of Roskomnadzor).
At once it is necessary to cool the excited users who believe that since their stay in the virtual club are trying to limit, they are not obliged to pay tax on the profits received in the casino. Under Russian law, any income received by a citizen is taxable. In fact, having received even 100 rubles in the form of winnings, you must pay from them 13 p. to the state treasury. For example, all citizens pay tax on their lottery winnings. So why do some people think that the funds given out in the casino are not subject to fiscal levies?
The tax legislation of the Russian Federation provides for tax to be paid on profits earned in the previous year. That is, no one cares that (let's say) in February you won 100 thousand rubles, and in June you lost a million. After a year, be kind enough to pay 13% on your winnings of 100,000 rubles. Unfair? Yes, but that's how the legislation works. By the way, if you are a fan of betting on sports, then the official bookmaker's offices operating in Russia will pay tax on your winnings for you, i.e., you will not have to deal with this issue and waste time on filing a tax return. If we summarize the first result from all of the above, it turns out that tax must be paid on winnings received in:
- public and private official lotteries;
- arcades and virtual casinos;
- bookmakers;
- other cases that involve making a profit.
Non-payment of tax becomes a reason for fines and penalties. If the amount of unpaid taxes falls into the category of large (900 thousand p. - 4.5 million p. for 3 years), the player may face criminal liability (imprisonment for a period of 6 months or a large fine). If the amount exceeds 4.5 million p., we are talking about three years of imprisonment.
This situation is very unpleasant, as any experienced gamer knows very well that it is impossible to be constantly with a profit, playing in the casino. In 99% cases, the player finds himself in a loss (over a long period of time). However, pay tax and increase your losses still need to pay.
How to minimize costs?
Let's start with the fact that if you play in a stationary casino of the Russian Federation, which is located in one of the gambling zones, then the tax from the winnings will be deducted automatically when you give out the money at the cash desk of the institution. If you receive winnings from an online casino, the tax obligation falls on your shoulders.
Some gamers prefer to play in clubs that utilize the bitcoins. This allows for anonymous money transactions that do not fall under the attention of the fiscal authorities. In addition, it should be understood that the tax inspectorate is not God, it is simply not able to track all transactions in the country. For this reason, in part, this responsibility is shifted to banks. But they can't keep track of everything. They're not interested in small transfers. Withdraw large sums from the casino on the cards of Russian banks (especially, with state participation) is not worth it. We are talking about amounts that exceed 600,000 rubles. The use of electronic wallets slightly improves the situation, as they are less noticed, but the situation is changing. Transactions carried out with their help are also beginning to be closely monitored.
Let's add a spoonful of honey to the tar barrel: the country has not yet brought criminal cases against casino players who have not paid taxes on their winnings. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that paying taxes by players is a reality that is becoming more and more relevant every day. As the saying goes, "don't be quiet while it's still quiet".
