Professional gambler wins tax case in Finland
The case could have major implications for professional gambling in Finland ahead of the opening of a liberalised online gambling market in 2027.
Key takeaways:
- Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court ruled in favour of professional bettor Antti Koivula, allowing betting losses to be deducted when calculating taxable betting income.
- The case arose after Koivula made an overall profit of around €41,000 in 2020, but argued that the tax authority’s interpretation could have resulted in a tax bill of €166,000.
- The judgment may influence the future tax treatment of professional bettors in Finland and could serve as a precedent ahead of the country’s regulated betting market launch in July 2027.
Finland.- A professional gambler has won a lengthy legal battle against Finland’s tax authorities. The country’s Supreme Administrative Court in Helsinki has ruled that his gambling losses should be taken into account when calculating taxable income.
Koivula has worked as a professional bettor for more than a decade and also works in the industry as Chief Compliance Officer at Hippos ATG. He told the Finnish news outlet Nettipokeri that the court decision could strengthen the prospects for professional betting in Finland ahead of the country’s regulated market opening in July 2027.
In 2020, Antti Koivula wagered around €366,000 and received approximately €407,000 in returns, resulting in an overall profit of about €41,000. Despite this, Finnish tax officials assessed bets on an individual basis and argued that unsuccessful wagers could not be treated as expenses incurred in generating betting income.
He said the tax treatment could have left him facing a bill of €166,000 on a profit of just €41,000.
“I had to look into where I could get a loan. There was financial pressure,” he said. “I am not a millionaire, nor am I financially independent. I have three small children and support my family.”
Maintaining that his betting activity should be recognised as income-generating work, with associated costs deducted from earnings, Koivula challenged the tax authority’s interpretation through the courts. After more than five years of legal proceedings, Finland’s Supreme Administrative Court has now ruled in his favour.
Announcing the outcome on LinkedIn, Koivula wrote: “The tax bear is down! The tax bear is down! I won at the Supreme Administrative Court 100–0. Every single substantive issue.”
He added: “The case concerned my personal income taxation and determined the tax treatment of professional bettors in Finland — both now and going forward. This one matters”.
He told Nettipokeri that the court considered several factors, including the fact that he had pursued betting systematically for more than a decade, possessed specialist knowledge of betting markets and derived economically significant income from the activity. He said that the court did not set fixed thresholds for working hours, stake sizes or income levels when determining whether betting qualifies as an income-generating activity for tax purposes. Nor did the court consider betting activity to constitute business activity under the Business Income Tax Act.
For the moment, state-controlled Veikkaus retains a monopoly over gambling in Finland. However, the country is preparing for the launch of a liberalised online gambling market in July 2027. The tax ruling could serve as a legal precedent that could boost professional gambling just as the market opens.
Professional poker has previously been recognised as income-earning activity for tax purposes. The court’s ruling confirms that sports betting can be considered in a similar way, at least in cases when betting is extensive and systematic enough to be understood to have been conducted with the intention of earning income. That means that stakes from unsuccessful bets can be deducted from taxable betting winnings alongside travel costs between home and the workplace.
Hippos ATG is a recently formed joint venture between the trotting body Suomen Hippos and the Swedish operator ATG. It was one of the first companies to publicly express interest in entering the future regulated gambling market in Finland. It looks like it might face significant competition. The National Police Board has reported that it had received 75 Finnish gambling licence applications by September 22, suggesting much greater interest than what had been expected.
