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According to reporting from Card Player Europe, a new investigation on behalf of the Guardia di Finanza and the Italian Revenue Agency could be targeting professional poker players. Specifically, these agencies will be scrutinizing the actual income of Italian high stakes poker players as compared to their declared income.

The agencies will investigate several areas, including winnings earned from domestic and foreign online poker rooms, royalties and sponsorship deals, and the foreign assets of Italian poker pros stored in banks internationally.

Letters and forms were sent to several Italian poker players as part of the investigation. Players must fill out these forms and return them to their respective local tax offices.

By law, Italian poker players are required to pay taxes on any winnings received from online poker sites that are based in countries other than Italy. This is similar to a tax law imposed in Sweden, in which players are exempt from paying taxes on winnings from domestic Swedish online poker sites.

The article printed in Card Player Europe stated that any foreign bank account (as in, foreign to Italy) attached to online “gaming” (as in poker, sports betting, online casino gambling) is to be monitored. If either the overall balance of the account or the transactions into or out of the account passes 10,000 Euros, then the account officially becomes a financial asset. Since the asset could generate foreign income, the Italian government wants that income to be appropriately taxed.

Online poker was only legalized recently in Italy, which could explain why its government is just now taking tax action on the matter. As part of online poker’s legalization in Italy, the country passed a 20% tax on the revenue generated by licensed Italian online poker sites. Although this transition has been smooth, it looks like Italy now wants to ensure that the players at the sites, in addition to the site owners, are paying their share.