Re: Never paid taxes before... how much should I expect to pay?
No one knows for certain. However, assume you never declared 20k poker winnings in 2006. Circumstances cause govt. to seize records of big payment company (neteller). IRS reviews individual records and sees lots of withdrawals to your bank. They decide to audit (doesn't matter if it's 1% or 5% chance). You claim ignornace of law, cry a lot and are 24 yrs old with no criminal record. My guess is that you will pay huge fine and they'll scare the &%$%^ out of you with threats of imprisonment (which is within the bounds of the law for willful tax evasion).
On the other hand, assume you declare your winnings, offset most of it with losses (which you can't prove) and get audited for same reason. You have no records to speak of. You'll be fined but at least you declared. The IRS will take their tax cut plus some penalty/interest.
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