Filing as a pro in the bible belt

[pshabi]

Okay, let's say you live in Indiana. You are taxed by the state and cannot deduct losses because god is too strict in Indiana.

So, let's say you are playing professionally and filing accordingly.

Let's say you make $70k. How much of that $70k is going to the government?

Would it change drastically (%-wise) if you made $100k?

[Zele]

$10Kish goes to SS/medicare, then depending on your deduction situation maybe another $8K-$10K for regular fed taxes, plus whatever you owe your state. So call it $20,000 ish.

[MNpoker]

It really depends if you have a full time job and are close to the AMT.

If you are it is VERY possible you will pay well over 100% on your net win. (To State alone)

[pshabi]

My situation would be thus:

-Married, filing jointly.
-Wife making $35k.
-My sole income would be poker, and approx. $70k. Filing pro.
-Two kids'
-Mortgage

Is AMT something I would have to worry about? I've read a bit about it, from what Ding Dong linked me to, but I don't about filing married-jointly.

[Zele]

The federal AMT threshold is like $148,000 or something (Adjusted Gross Income). Most states don't have an AMT of their own, though MN does.

AMT is the biggest problem if you are not filing as a pro, since you may be unable to deduct your gross losses even at the federal level. However if you are filing as a pro it should not affect you in this way.

P.S. Have you done the math on filing unemployed? I am in a very similar position to you. 2/3 of my year was in Illinois, which does not allow loss deductions for non-pros, but I still was a lot better off filing unemployed due to the savings on the federal self-employment tax (SS/medicare).