The Age of Melbourne, Australia reports that World Series of Poker 2005 champ Joe Hachem was the recipient of really good news this week – he won’t have to pay income tax on his $A 10 million WSOP winnings from Las Vegas due to a tax ruling that he was pursuing a hobby, not working.
The Melbourne father of four toppled American and European poker heavyweights by blitzing the World Series of Poker in July.
Hachem’s lawyers said the Australian Taxation Office had found their client was not in the business of playing poker at the time of his win.
“As a result of this finding, the poker winnings were classified as income derived from a hobby, and thus not subject to Australian tax,” his lawyer Peter Donovan said in a statement. “The distinction between the conduct of a business and the mere pursuit of a hobby is often a difficult distinction to draw. However, the fact that you excel at a particular hobby should not be fatal for tax purposes.”
Hachem will be a featured player in the Aussie Millions tournament to be held in January at Melbourne’s Crown Casino.