BRUSSELS: By now, everyone is very much aware of the mammoth victory earned by Joe McKeehen for topping the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event. It was a dominating performance by McKeehen, and one that saw him earn $7,683,346 in first-place prize money. What everyone may not be aware of is who the real winner coming out of the final table was — the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to a report published by Russ Fox on taxabletalk.com, the IRS walked away with $8,467,091 in its pockets. With $24,806,976 in prize money awarded to the November Nine, the money the IRS took amounted to 34.13 percent.
Fox wrote in his report that McKeehen will “owe self-employment tax along with his federal income tax ($3,073,240), Pennsylvania state income tax ($235,879), and the local township (North Wales Boro) earned income tax ($76,833), a total of $3,385,952 (44.07 percent). He’ll get to keep an estimated $4,297,394 of his winnings.”
Fox estimated that Josh Beckley and Neil Blumenfield, the two players to advance to the third day of the final table, will be subject to high tax rates because they are from New Jersey and California, respectively. On the other end, Fox estimated that Max Steinberg, the fourth-place finisher from Nevada, will face the lowest tax rate.
