Minimum amount won required to declare taxes?

[someone447]

How much money can you win before you have to declare taxes? Not like it really matters for me, just curious.

[Russ Fox]

$1.

That's the law in the United States -- all income is taxable, no matter where it's earned. And you must report poker winnings by session.

-- Russ Fox

[Nut4Dawgs]

Do you pay taxes now? I ask because if you do, you should have received your IRS forms in the mail by now. Gambling winnings are one of the "other" forms of income. Taxable just like lottery or sweepstakes prizes.

If you don't file now, and don't receive a Form 1099(G?), you might not be concerned. Paper trails absolutely require filing.

If your Adjusted Gross Income is <6k your 6k deduction allowance for a single person cancels out any taxes due. I think.

I am not an accountant. I am not a tax expert. My opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it. I did save money on my car insurance last week when I renewed with Geico. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[CORed]

[ QUOTE ]
$1.

That's the law in the United States -- all income is taxable, no matter where it's earned. And you must report poker winnings by session.

-- Russ Fox

[/ QUOTE ]

I had one session on Party poker last year. It lasted from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

$.009, once you win one cent, it's taxable.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

That'll pass IRS scrutiny about as smoothly as Richard Hatch's claim he was just a bad bookkeeper.

[someone447]

I havent won money playing poker, so I don't think it matters anyway. I have lost $130 in my small amount of time playing poker online. I don't file taxes since I don't have a source of income.

[grapabo]

True, all of the poker income is taxable, but in order to be required to file a return, the law and the IRS have some minimum threshholds before the requirement to file kicks in. Basically, if your personal exemption and standard deduction are more than your income, there's no requirement to file.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar01.html#d0e253

If you're still eligible to be claimed as a dependent by your parents, it gets a little more complicated, and the threshold can be much lower.

[Nismo64]

The chart basically is saying you dont have to fill a form out if you are making under $8,200. Am i correct on this or did i just misunderstand it?

[Nut4Dawgs]

[ QUOTE ]
The chart basically is saying you dont have to fill a form out if you are making under $8,200. Am i correct on this or did i just misunderstand it?

[/ QUOTE ]
I just got out my 2005 instructions and did the form for a person filing as single, no dependents, not being claimed by someone else as a dependent, using the standard deductions - and that's exactly right. Anything over $8,200 you must file and pay.

[lowpockets]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you pay taxes now? I ask because if you do, you should have received your IRS forms in the mail by now. Gambling winnings are one of the "other" forms of income. Taxable just like lottery or sweepstakes prizes.

If you don't file now, and don't receive a Form 1099(G?), you might not be concerned. Paper trails absolutely require filing.

If your Adjusted Gross Income is <6k your 6k deduction allowance for a single person cancels out any taxes due. I think.

I am not an accountant. I am not a tax expert. My opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it. I did save money on my car insurance last week when I renewed with Geico. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]
I am not 100% sure about the name of the ruling... But, there was a big supreme court ruling back in the early-mid nineties of a well known poker player against the IRS. He pretty much fought his poker winnings being taxable at the same rate gambling winnings are. In other words, poker winnings are taxed as income and not gambling winnings, so that statement isn't exactly accurate. How much you pay for your winnings depends on what tax bracket you fall into, while gambling winnings are around 50% or something rediculously high. But I do agree, my advice is worth what you paid for it.

[grapabo]

[ QUOTE ]
Do you pay taxes now? I ask because if you do, you should have received your IRS forms in the mail by now. Gambling winnings are one of the "other" forms of income. Taxable just like lottery or sweepstakes prizes.

If you don't file now, and don't receive a Form 1099(G?), you might not be concerned. Paper trails absolutely require filing.

If your Adjusted Gross Income is <6k your 6k deduction allowance for a single person cancels out any taxes due. I think.

I am not an accountant. I am not a tax expert. My opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it. I did save money on my car insurance last week when I renewed with Geico. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

One point of clarification to your otherwise accurate post: some (not all) gambling winnings are reported on a form W-2G (the 1099-G is a form that reports government distributions of income). From what I've seen, the form W-2G is most commonly given to the taxpayer when they've won at the slots, and it's given to them at the time they win it. I don't believe casinos are required to report a customer's poker winnings are required on a W-2G (though that might change in the future in a tournament situation, where winnings can be traced).

An income statement like a W-2 or 1099 is the easiest way for the IRS to check compliance, but just because no income statement is given to the taxpayer and sent to the IRS doesn't mean the IRS will check other ways to see if you earned unreported income (like blips in your bank account).