Taxes

[BIG NIGE]

Okay I have a question about taxes on poker income.

I know that if I deposit or cash any check of $10,000 or more at my bank, they report it to the IRS so I will have to pay taxes on it. However, since I can request from poker sites exactly how much I want sent in a check, what if I just requested checks of $9500 each and deposited them? Would the IRS still find out about them (remember the checks come from poker/gambling sites that are unregulated by the US so presumably they don't share or report anything to the IRS)? Is it legal to deposit money like this, since presumably one could do this and still pay taxes when they are due?

If the bank or IRS got suspicious because of all the $9500 checks, what if I was more discreet and varied the amounts between $5000-8000 to avoid drawing attention?

Could I depsit or cash an infinite amount of checks without the IRS ever finding out or forcing me to pay taxes? What would be my chances of cashing or depositing several checks without having the IRS find out and force me to pay taxes?

Yes I know it is illegal to not pay taxes on earned income, but I am just asking to find out just how much authority/power the IRS has over money that comes from foreign-based gambling sites who don't report anything to the IRS?

[Jeffiner99]

Check out this article, first one I found on the subject, then read the Patriot Act in full, then look up the words "suspicious activity report" in Google. Should have your answer. If not, look at Neteller situation and then read the Barney Frank bill - all sites looking to get a license must open their books to the US feds and agree to be subjected to US jurisdiction.

I think that about covers it.

[Jeffiner99]

oops: here you go:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2006-05-11-privacy-find-data-usat_x.htm

[Jeffiner99]

Curious, why would someone from Liverpool be asking?

[Zele]

It is a crime ("structuring") to intentionally evade the reporting threshold by breaking up your deposits into smaller amounts, even if you are doing nothing else illegal.

[BIG NIGE]

This seems unfair, because suppose you work at a job where your paycheck is around $9000? What are you supposed to do to avoid being cited for structuring? Or suppose you are self-employed, or are a small business owner, and your income typically comes in $8-10K chunks. Unlike poker, most professions don't afford the luxury of choosing how much you get paid at once. Therefore, how would the bank or the IRS determine whether you were doing it "on purpos" or not? I mean, I could see how suspicions would arise if you deposited $9800 each time, or something like that, but it wouldn't be that hard to deposint checks for more "normal" looking amounts. Furthermore, even if you did deposit $9000 at a time or something, and the bank or IRS was suspicious, how can they just assume that you're doing it to avoid paying taxes? Shouldn't they at least give you a chance to file before charging you with a crime? Is there something I'm missing here?

[ZBTHorton]

[ QUOTE ]
This seems unfair, because suppose you work at a job where your paycheck is around $9000? What are you supposed to do to avoid being cited for structuring? Or suppose you are self-employed, or are a small business owner, and your income typically comes in $8-10K chunks. Unlike poker, most professions don't afford the luxury of choosing how much you get paid at once. Therefore, how would the bank or the IRS determine whether you were doing it "on purpos" or not? I mean, I could see how suspicions would arise if you deposited $9800 each time, or something like that, but it wouldn't be that hard to deposint checks for more "normal" looking amounts. Furthermore, even if you did deposit $9000 at a time or something, and the bank or IRS was suspicious, how can they just assume that you're doing it to avoid paying taxes? Shouldn't they at least give you a chance to file before charging you with a crime? Is there something I'm missing here?

[/ QUOTE ]


PAY YOUR TAXES !!!! Quit trying to find ways around paying your taxes. Stop worrying about unfair things about avoiding taxes.

Ughhhhhhhhhh.

[spino1i]

well its kind of a fine line, and structuring is something that is up to the interpretation of the court. In reality, I wouldnt worry about structuring, I'd just worry about getting audited. For the most part, assuming you dont make many big deposits, youre prolly ok.

[Richas]

[ QUOTE ]
Curious, why would someone from Liverpool be asking?

[/ QUOTE ]

I assume he is a US citizen so liable for US taxes even when abroad. We get a lot of US people signing up for UK citizenship to avoid US taxes on top of their UK bill but it has non tax downsides.

[drj003]

It's BS that we should have to pay taxes on something that they banned from the U.S. I say if you can get away with not paying, then don't. I bet if you did make all the checks for like 5k, that you probably wouldn't get noticed. I would do some research first though....

[DavidNB]

[ QUOTE ]
It's BS that we should have to pay taxes on something that they banned from the U.S. I say if you can get away with not paying, then don't. I bet if you did make all the checks for like 5k, that you probably wouldn't get noticed. I would do some research first though....

[/ QUOTE ]

They didn't bann poker in the US.

[Poker_Ace]

The 10k reporting requirement only applies to CASH (and equivalents), not checks. You can deposit checks in any amount without creating a reporting obligation for the bank, unless the checks are suspicious for a reason indpendent of the amount. E.g., the memo says "proceeds from heroin sale."