[mmcd]

My main point was don't just look at the IRS publications and forms, plug the numbers in, and cut a check for that amount. Doing so would be giving up too much too easily.

If you can make a good faith argument based on the law as to what you are doing, there is plenty of play in the joints here. As I said earlier if you don't know a lot about these things, hire a CPA or a tax attorney, and hire a pitbull not a lapdog.

Outright not reporting your income is a stupid gamble because it's impossible to asses what the consequences and chances of getting caught are ahead of time. Many times it will come down to whether a specific bureaucrat decides to be a prick about it or not, and if he does, the consequences could be VERY severe.

I'd be willing to bet that among winning poker players at large, the vast majority either don't report or severely under-report their winnings, and this is certainly a bad idea. But here I think many are paying more than they have to because they blindly follow whatever instuctions the IRS gives them.