CSGO Veteran Flusha Convicted of Tax Evasion in Swedish Court

Veteran CS:GO player, Robin “flusha” Rönnquist, has been convicted of tax evasion for failure to declare his 2015 prize money winnings under the appropriate category. The player, who claims ignorance, has been fined and sentenced to community service. So far, he has avoided any jail sentence as the court considered mitigating circumstances. 

Flusha to Pay Surcharge on Unpaid 2015 Income Tax

Flusha is back on Fnatic after a brief stint on teams like Cloud9 and Godsent. Image Credit: DreamHack. 

Prosecutors at the Attunda District Court have charged Flusha with tax evasion. Flusha should have realized his prize money winnings counts as income and he is liable to pay tax on the same, the prosecutors said. Under Swedish law, any winnings from licensed gambling businesses are tax-free, however, tournament prize winnings (sports and esports) are taxable. 

Flusha failed to report 1.04 million Swedish kronor, or roughly $120,000 income in 2015. The player has been ordered to pay back 200,000 Swedish Kroner ($23,000). He will have to fulfill 120 hours of community service as well as pay an 800 Swedish Kroner ($92.90) victim surcharge to the Swedish Crime Victims Fund.

According to the DreamHack website, “If you are claiming your prize money as a private individual, per Swedish law, you have to pay social fees and taxes since you will be receiving your prize money as a form of salary.” The player denies any malicious intent but will now have to pay a hefty surcharge in addition to community service. 

The Fnatic Era in CS:GO 

Fnatic was a powerhouse in Counter-Strike Global Offensive in 2015. The team won multiple events in 2015 including the ESL One Cologne 2015 Major. They defeated their arch-rivals Team Envy (then EnVyUs) 2-0 in the grand finals. They also won ESL One Katowice, Gfinity Spring Masters 2, DreamHack Open Tours 2015, ESL Pro League Season 1, StarLadder, FaceIT, Fragbite and many other tournaments.

In an unrelated case, last year Fnatic lost an appeal against the Swedish Tax Agency’s fine over non-payment of payroll taxes through 2016-17. The penalty for non-payment was imposed after the players reported in their tax declarations the organization was paying their payroll fees.

After a brief period on other teams, including Cloud9, Flusha is back on Fnatic. The Swedish roster is ranked 12th in the HLTV rankings and is currently playing in the FLASHPOINT Season 2 tournament with a million-dollar prize pool.

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Source: https://news.unikrn.com/article/flusha-tax-evasion-swedish-court-income-prize-money-winnings-n_rs?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=news