Re: I\'m happy...
[ QUOTE ]
I'm really happy you guys are taking this tax topic seriously. I'm not the tax expert by any means, so my goal isn't to educate, per se. Instead, I just wanted to bring this topic to people's attention so that ignorance doesn't kick their asses down the line.
[/ QUOTE ]
I know I personally appreciate you raising the issue, Ed. As you mentioned in your piece, there are a huge number of new part-time poker players that are playing online and in casinos -- more than recreationally but less than professionally -- who have no idea that they've gotten themselves into a quandry with the tax code. Some of the more profitable among that bunch may choose to devote enough time and energy to poker to cross the boundary from recreational to semi-professional or professional. Getting all the way to the bottom of the question of where the line between those classes of poker players lies -- between the amateurs and the pros/semi-pros -- is of huge importance and despite the great discussion here in this thread I still do not see a bright line rule emerging. I'll volunteer my own time to help anyone interested in a more authoritative, comprehensive investigation.
As an aside, I think authors of books for advanced beginners (SSH) and intermediate players probably have a sort of player-to-player (rather than legal or formal) responsibility of sorts to point out the tax issue, at least in passing, in their texts. If SSH is the path towards winning "much more than minimum wage," then the book (or others like it) should say something about the fact that you're going to owe taxes on those tidy winnings.
Final point: someone above mentioned that good faith will likely go a long way in any audit. I'm inclined to agree but wonder what those with a greater knowledge of either audits or IRS process might think about that. I mean, for any type of poker player, a conscientious process of documenting play and attempting to adhere to the rule of law (even if we make errors along the way) would seem to be enough to avoid major penalties should we be hit with an audit and find we messed up.
|