[McSeafield]

In German Income Tax Law the kinds of income, which releases a taxation, are finally defined. Poker is a play, a bet on a uncertain result and leads to a transfer of fortune or a loss of fortune, but never to income in the sense of the Income Tax law. The same applies for other play gains from casino games to wins in Lotto, Totto etc. There is no connecting factor, which releases a taxation in German Income Tax Law.

Poker is also a zero-sums game, i.e. the sum of the results of all players results to zero (exactly to a loss which consists in the sum of all rakes paid). Therefore it is impossible to think about a taxation of the economic aggregate of value added. The German revenue authority would be very buggy if they would try to introduce taxation of poker winnings because they would have to consider, in which form the poker losses then would be tax-deductible. And an accounting of loss with other positive income will never be introduced in German Tax Law, definitely. That would lead to a fiscal subsidization of poker losses and there is defenitively no connecting factor, which could lead to such a result.

The only connecting factors recognizable in theory, would be those, which apply to a professional sportsman (e.g. tennis player) or an artists (e.g. conjuror or other). All these people receive money for an achievement, which they furnished and not for running a risk. In all other respects there are certain profits, which are not taxed likewise in the range of the stock exchange transactions, because the whole is regarded as a play. In this respect it is not important whether it is a luck play or a skill play of a stock exchange professional. However be careful, most of such transaction are taxable, however, because of other reason.

Poker winnings are not subject to income taxation in Germany. Only earings from such winnings (like interest) are subject to taxation. That is current tax law. There´s no doubt about that. Other opinions mean: The summer theater begins and ends in May.