poker taxes in CANADA??

[its420yo]

I just recently cashed out 2300$ USD from party poker and will probably cash out another 4~5k in the next month or so. How will this affect anything when I deposit it into my savings account? Will I have to declare this as my income and pay taxes? since i'm a student i have no other major sources of income.

[fadedstar]

Considering the fact that playing online casinos in Canada is illegal, I wouldn't declare it. Note that I didn't check the law myself, my only source is a TV coverage made by national television on the subject that told me that it was technically illegal but not actively reprimended.

I wouldn't declare anything.

.fs.

[S0meGuy]

Canadian tax forms have a line called "other income" where you can put miscellaneous earnings like from poker/hobbies, etc.

Revenue Canada apparently is not interested how you got your money, only that you pay taxes on it. If you cash out and make a deposit, you need to be prepared if audited to explain where this income came from. Not reporting income is bad.

[CasqueNoir]

Exactly. I saw a public TV piece where they had a taxes bureaucrat interviewed. He said that the activity of the income is not important, it is kept confidential.

In theory, drug dealers must pay taxes on their income, revenue Canada can't transfer information to the police.

[SumZero]

Conventional wisdom is that if you are not gambling as a business[1] then you don't need to pay taxes on your income if you are CDN. But see a tax professional.

1 - It is unclear if the business side of things means "running a gambling site/club/casino" or also includes "professional poker player". But if you are a hobby poker player then it doesn't mean you.