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Old 11-26-2007, 08:44 PM
JPFisher55 JPFisher55 is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 963
Default Re: Interesting tax decision for those residing in states...

The IRS does not seem to very often win the hobby v. business cases in which the taxpayer keeps complete and accurate records of his endeavor and seems to try the endeavor repeatedly. I would guess that these factors are not present in most cases because most taxpayers are slobby.
My point is that the IRS usually loses on the issue of whether the activity could ever lead to a profit even though the taxpayer admits that it never has produced a profit. In this case, the Tax Court acknowledged the lack of a profit and seemed to acknowledge the low probability of a profit. Yet, somehow playing slot machines is a business. Maybe this court didn't realize that it is impossible to win at slot machines over any considerable length of time. So now this taxpayer gets to deduct travel expenses etc to casinos. ROFLAO
So if a poker player keeps good records of profits and losses and plays a great deal, how could the IRS ever challenge the poker playing as a hobby and not a profession?
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