While Peter Eastgate won the 2008 WSOP Main Event in November, scoring a whopping $9.1 million win, he might as well have come in last. The tax laws in Denmark require that on the first $4 million of a gambling win, 45% must go to Danish income taxes. And any additional winnings on top of that ($5.1 million in Eastgate’s case) are taxed at the rate of 75%.
The main reason that Danish taxes are so high is because of the socialistic government of Denmark’s citizens live under. They receive completely free health care and college tuition scholarships that pay every cent of their education, but all of this comes with a big price tag when it comes to taxes. The funding for these benefits comes straight from high and repressive taxes. In Eastgate’s case, his $9.1 million win, after taxes, will come out to less than $2.5 million.
Eastgate did attempt to relocate his residence to London, England, in hopes of evading the high taxes, where the taxes aren’t as bad. British taxes would have only taken 40% of his winnings, in which he would have been able to keep $5.5 million, but apparently he failed to establish residency in London during the 117-day intermission between July when he won the final table seat and the November Main Event.
One idea recommended to Eastgate is a change of address to Monaco, where Sir Roger Moore and Ringo Star of the Beatles now reside. The income tax in Monaco is zilch and the country is the smallest in the world, but the most densely populated, and it is clear why. They do have the thriving capital city of Monte Carlo there, where Eastgate could spend more of his money at the poker tables.
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