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Texas Hold'em “is the most popular form of game on the net.
Each player receives two cards face down.
Whoever has the best poker hand together with three of the five community cards on the table wins - or who at least bluffs the other players that they could have the best hand.
If that has too much to do with skill, you can try virtual machines. Here the games are called “Crystal Book” or “Wild Sun”, sometimes letters and numbers spin, sometimes melons, lemons and bells. A certain combination of symbols must always remain in order to win.
Online gambling has been booming for years.
But now the state not only wants to legalize the market for the first time, but also tax it at the same time.
Just as with bets on the finish of racehorses and on other sports results, a part of every bet at the online poker table and at virtual machines will in future go directly to the tax authorities - a uniform 5.3 percent.
This is what it says in the draft law that has to be drawn up by the federal states and passed by the Bundestag before July.
The federal cabinet recently put the draft into law.
The black market benefits from the changes
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The industry is alarmed.
It's about a lot of money.
Officials estimate the hitherto largely unregulated market at more than two billion euros.
The providers are often based in Malta or Gibraltar and for a long time had little to fear.
They were not persecuted.
Many players might not have been aware of the gray area in which they were operating - after all, the products are advertised openly in football stadiums and TV spots.
But now everything is changing.
Anyone who wants to officially romp around on the lucrative German market in the future must submit to the new rules and controls.
Therefore, no provider wants to mess with politicians who are looking for a nationwide license according to the State Treaty on Gaming, which will come into effect on July 1st.
But clear words are spoken behind the scenes.
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The additional income of 365 million euros per year expected by the federal states testifies to a denial of reality on the part of politicians, the head of a provider who is based in Malta and so far only has an EU license, is angry.
If it is a third of it in the end, one can be happy.
The black market, which will continue to be tax-free in the future, will not shrink, but grow thanks to the tax plans, he says.
The German Sports Betting Association points out that the new, stricter gaming rules for sports betting and online casinos, which have been in place for the first two dozen providers in a transition phase since mid-October and will be activated from the summer, have already led to a migration movement.
The slump is estimated at 54 percent.
Because according to the new rules, every bet no longer works, not every game is offered online.
For example, casino table games such as blackjack and roulette have been switched off, and live bets on football games that are not directly related to goals have also disappeared.
This means that no more bets can be placed on the next yellow card or the next throw-in.
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There is also a general deposit limit of 1000 euros per month.
And whoever liked to run several games in parallel had to change.
Jumping back and forth from the sports bet to the virtual poker table or the online slot machine is also no longer possible.
Each player must also be shown before the start of the game how high the probability of the maximum win is and the average payout rate per stake.
This is where the 5.3 percent tax comes into play.
Because of the tax, the gambling industry argues, the payout ratio must inevitably decrease, which makes your own offer less attractive compared to illegal providers.
Because with slot machines, 96 percent of the stake would usually be paid out.
After deducting the new tax, only 90 percent could be paid out, significantly less than with competitors on the black market.
Reference is made to a study that the economist Justus Haucap presented in the previous year together with colleagues on behalf of the German Sports Betting Association and the German Online Casino Association.
Haucap comes to the conclusion that a gambling stake tax "worsens the possible payout rates and thus the attractiveness and competitiveness of legal games so blatantly that many players prefer to play in the non-legal market".
The offer is huge, players from Germany alone can choose from almost 1500 online casinos, a large number of these companies operate from Asia and the Caribbean.
As an alternative to a stake tax, Haucap refers to a gross gaming income tax, such as exists in Denmark and Great Britain.
The gross gaming revenue is the stake minus the payout, i.e. roughly what is left with the provider.
If the 19 percent tax, which is usual in the European average, is deducted from this, it is manageable for the companies.
Alternative suggestions from the industry are that the stake should be taxed directly, as planned, but only at a very reduced rate of around one percent.
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The industry has found support in Schleswig-Holstein, which has been the most liberal gaming location in the state for years. "It can be assumed that 'saddling on' too high taxes will lead to overregulation, with the effect that the desired channeling into the legal market with its clear requirements for player and youth protection is jeopardized," says the boss the Kiel State Chancellery Dirk Schrödter.
Schleswig-Holstein abstained from introducing the bill in the Bundesrat.
There are also objections from Saxony.
A protocol declaration on the draft law states that the Free State basically approves the tax regulations, but is of the opinion that the tax rate of 5.3 percent is too high.
As a result, an essential aim of the State Treaty on Gambling is made more difficult, namely to steer players in the direction of legal offers.
In the majority of the federal states, however, there is no need for improvement.
The Ministry of Finance in North Rhine-Westphalia rejected the industry's criticism and announced: "The future legal gaming offering enables an economically viable business model with competitive payout quotas."
The total tax burden of the new types of gambling is based on the tax burden of previous offers.
Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania even stated in a protocol declaration that they consider the tax rate for virtual slot machine games to be too low, and referred to the "potential dangers associated with this game of chance".
In a first version of the bill, it was eight percent instead of 5.3 percent.
The federal government also expressly welcomes the draft law in a statement.
She only sees a need for improvement in the sanctioning of violations.
The “criminal and fine law provisions” in the new racing betting and lottery law have not yet been adapted to the requirements of modern legislation.
It is unlikely that the industry can still prevent the tax during the upcoming readings in the Bundestag. "Since the draft law was introduced by the states and it is a pure state tax, I see little reason for the Bundestag to intervene again," says Antje Tillmann, financial policy spokeswoman for the Union parliamentary group. However, if it turns out during the hearing that the goal of getting online gambling out of anonymity is actually endangered, one will have to speak again.
In the end, it could mean that the providers will hold back with too much lobby yelling in the coming weeks.
As said a representative who does not want to read his name in the newspaper: He will not do anything until the summer that could endanger his nationwide gaming license.
Extra: Players must pay taxes on their winnings
Regardless of whether at the roulette table, on the racetrack or in the online casino, the following always applies:
winnings from gambling are tax-free in Germany
.
However, the prerequisite is that the provider has a gaming license in Germany or another EU country, pays tax on its sales there and possibly also pays gaming tax.
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If this is not the case, the proceeds can be confiscated and even a fine can be imposed - at least in theory.
If you play outside the European Union, for example in
Las Vegas
, and win more than 10,000 euros, you have to declare the amount at customs when entering the country.
Source: WORLD infographic
But even then, taxes are not levied.
However, a player has to be careful on site: in the United States, for example, high profits usually go directly
to taxes of 30 percent
.
Here, a German must apply for a so-called ITIN number so that the full winnings are paid out.
In the case of higher profits, every player should definitely keep the
payment receipt from the organizer in
case the tax office encounters the sudden wealth and asks. Anyone who regularly earns higher profits from playing poker, for example, should also be careful. Because
professional players
have to pay taxes on their winnings as income.