[pyedog]

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Hey guys, me again. I posted this in another thread, reposting it here. A few things have changed since my last post, including much bigger wins this year.

I'm in the same situation as most of you, only I'm probably a bigger target for the CRA. My profits last year were around $1 million, and this year a little over $2.5 million. There are my first 2 years of professional play, and most of it is easily trackable because they are live tournament winnings.

My financial advisor told me to incorporate myself, which I did, and we moved all of the funds into my business account, and then into my current investment portfolio. We are submitting our case to the CRA, so that we get a decisive ruling right away. Could this be a bad idea? The only thing I know is that I don't want to break any laws.

My financial advisor has tried to assure me that even if they decide to tax me, I will end up having to pay very little taxes, after making investments in flow-through shares and other tax-credit investments, and write-offs.

I'm still a little worried though. Does anyone with knowledge in the field see any holes in my plan? My last resort would be to detach myself from Canada and become a non-resident for 6 months plus a day, and then my earnings for 2007 would be non-taxable. Is there a minimum number of years I would have to stay out of Canada before I could return?

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You can't trust any of those Professional Tax Advisors, Lawyers or Accountants.

You've come to the right place.

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I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic, but I'm assuming you are.

To me it seems like the people you listed have no idea about this issue either. I think that someone with some legal or accounting experience but with poker knowledge might be almost as helpful as an experienced accountant or tax lawyer with absolutely no experience in poker or gambling taxation.

And it seems like Canada has very few professional gamblers. So that means there are even fewer of these tax professionals with tax experience related to gambling. The CRA also doesn't seem to want to elaborate on their laws.

To me it seems like the Canadians who pay taxes on their poker winnings do it because of a "better safe than sorry" attitude. But if you call up these tax firms then they seem just as confused as the rest of us.