legal situation Germany

Hi,

I might be moving to Germany and was wondering what the situation with online gaming is there. I mostly play poker but like to hit the casino promos sometimes as well.  I'm hearing all kinds of conflicting info. My main questions are:

Are many big sites like betfair not allowing play from Germany?

Do sites that accept German customers have to report all winnings, etc to the german govt?

What is the best wallet to use there? I usually use the basic Neteller and Skrill but I want to keep my info private. I know Skrill has ties with Germany. Are they forced to report all my deposits and withdrawals and balance to the Germany govt or is it kept private?

TY for any info. Also I have a second option to locate to Sweden so if you know about that pls tell me as well. Thanks.

I want to hear about this too. Any Germans willing to share?

As far as I understand the situation at the moment, there is a conflict between German law and European law. Courts are still working on a solution and even though online gambling is illegal by German law, no player has ever been sued, as the outcome on a European court would be uncertain. Registration is possible at many online casinos for German players. Also many banking methods work from Germany, even though sometimes there are certain restrictions, for example when you try to use paypal. I dont know what information is being exchanged by skrill, neteller etc. and the German government.

Most online casinos refer to European law when they adress to German players, whereas by German law it is also illegal to advertise any gambling service. There are a few exceptions since 2012 when Schleswig Holstein (one German state) gave out a limited number of licences for selected providers what makes the situation even more complicated. Anyhow: If you should get into any trouble with any casino that does not have a German licence, there is no way to get your money on a legal way.

As for the winnings: All winnings from lotteries etc. are tax free in Germany. This also counts for poker winnings, as this is considered as gambling by German courts. Nevertheless, if you play professionally and have a regular income by pokergames, German courts have decided to view this as liable to tax.


http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/geld/online-gluecksspiel-was-beim-illegalen-zocken-droht-1959978.html

Interesting, so generally, if you are playing for fun, it is a grey zone and you should have no problems or pay no taxes, but if you gamble professionally (not really sure how or where do you declare yourself a professional though), you must pay taxes
Many other countries have different and confusing laws, and I can only hope that in time, all will come to the right place.

A casual gambler
I can imagine how cool is to be a professional, just picture business cards with a Gambler title!