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Poker Champ Pays No Taxes on $8.7 Million
By Ron Dicker
(DailyFinance)

05:39:30AM (ET) Wednesday,November 16,2011.

There's Herman Cain's 9-9-9 Plan. There's the Buffett Rule.

But of all the tax plans we've heard lately, Pius Heinz's All for Me deal is our favorite.

Heinz is the German ace who recently won the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, earning $8,715,636 -- tax-free.

Under the U.S.-Germany Tax Treaty, Germans' gambling income earned on U.S. soil isn't taxed by the IRS, reports Taxabletalk.com. Back in Germany, gambling winnings are also tax-exempt. So Heinz won't have to ante up one penny to any government, while most of his competition is paying a full house or more.



"All power to him," Taxable Talk author Russell Fox told DailyFinance.

Second-place finisher Martin Stazko of the Czech Republic doesn't owe anything to Uncle Sam for his $5,433,086 in winnings, but back home, he'll cough up $814,963.

Third-place finisher Ben Lamb of Tulsa, Okla., won $4,021,038 in the Texas Hold 'Em tournament, but he won't hold 'em all once the IRS is done with him. Fox estimated he'll fork over $1,524,011 in taxes.

Fourth-place finisher Mark Gianetti of Las Vegas will surrender $1,048,642, or 35%, of $3,012,700.

The biggest winner/loser of them all is Eoghan O'Dea of Dublin, Ireland. The sixth-place finisher will have to fold on 40% of his $1,720,331. Amateur Irish gamblers get to keep all their winnings, but O'Dea is a professional, so Ireland's Office of Revenue Commissioners gets a $695,018 share of his green.

But he got off easy compared to 2008 poker champ Peter Eastgate. As a citizen of Denmark, Eastgate was flushed out 73% of his $9,152,416. Comparatively, "U.S. tax law looks very friendly," Fox said.

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Wish we won't have to pay taxes on our winnings...wishful thinking.

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