So who is filing as a pro for their 2006 taxes?

[admiralfluff]

I've paid taxes on my past 2 years of poker income. I'm not going to this year. I am not motivated by greed, but I just can't allow myself to pay a part of Frist's salary out of my poker winnings. I expect to make ~50k in real-wolrd type work, so hopefully it won't be suspicious enough that I get audited. If I do, it's off to Costa Rica. FU america.

[kutuz_off]

You deposit 20000 in 2005, you are down to 10000 by 1/1/2006, you are up to 40000 in 2006, you withdraw it. You have to pay taxes on 30K, not 20K in 2006.

[Copernicus]

be careful about filing as a pro if you havent already in the past.

If in your tax situation there isnt a lot of difference, I wouldnt file as a pro. Why?

Because that might be the only thing that makes your playing online illegal. It may allow the govt to classify you as "a person in the business of betting or wagering"...ie if its you are a pro, its your business, and then betting..not just transferring..is illegal.

[Indiana]

[censored] em...i aint givin these [censored] a god dam dime.

At least they don't regulate card games in prison.

Indy

[TimM]

My taxes are filed with poker winnings on a schedule C. My CPA described my business as a "professional gambler". There is nothing anywhere on my return that could be used to determine whether this money came from online poker, trips to AC and Foxwoods, or scratch off lottery tickets for that matter.

[Ace upmy Slv]

Question and Thoughts

Question: I did not claim poker income on the last few years on my taxes. I have cashed in 3 events this year, including a 57K cash at the WSOP. I was W2'd for that and an event at Caeser's earlier in the year. You can now view my other cashes online under my player profile. Should I claim this as well even though they were not W2'd? Also, is it more likely that this would be caught and audited if I claim the other cashes? Should I claim my online winnings now too for fear that that is also more likely to be noticed? Unfortunately, I have taken a lot of $8500, $9500, $7800, etc witdraws online recently because of the power hungry, Evangelistic, wanting to control our morals, US Gov't bill recently passed. This would definitely show up on my bank records. I make pretty good money outside of poker, so the deposits are not unusual for my income.

Thoughts:

All major pro's claim their earnings and some of that is online money. Do you ever hear of them getting in trouble by the US Gov't? You have no worries about claiming online winnings and getting in trouble for playing online by the Gov't.

[Copernicus]

[ QUOTE ]
My taxes are filed with poker winnings on a schedule C. My CPA described my business as a "professional gambler". There is nothing anywhere on my return that could be used to determine whether this money came from online poker, trips to AC and Foxwoods, or scratch off lottery tickets for that matter.

[/ QUOTE ]

and when some overzealous agent decides he wants to see your session reports and finds out that your are in the business of betting or wagering online?

[TimM]

[ QUOTE ]
and when some overzealous agent decides he wants to see your session reports and finds out that your are in the business of betting or wagering online?

[/ QUOTE ]

Then he gets to see them. The point is, I have to report the income, and there is nothing on my return flagging it as illegal. I would argue that it is not illegal income in any case, as the laws all point to those in the business of accepting bets and wagers, not those placing them.

[climber]

the really sweet thing is the for thsoe of us fortunate enough to live in the handful of states where it is not legal to deduct losses.

this clause basically prohibits anyone from filing straight up as filing = paying more in tax than you made in profit.

if you live in one of these staes and do your federal stuff right and file as a pro then you just have to send it in the same way to the state and hope they decide not to rape you at some future point as your expenses/losses on your Schedule C are actually losses--which you are not allowed to deduct.

[Jeff W]

[ QUOTE ]
Al Capone didn't get nailed for killing anybody.
He got nailed for failing to pay the taxes for his mob-business.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that at the time that Al Capone got nailed, you could be implicated by your tax returns... not 100% sure though.