Should I run to the hills?

[jlewis]

Tax evasion is to being a small time poker pro as icing is to cake. Both necessary bonuses that, if overdone, will kill you. I have played poker "professionally" for 2 years. I have not paid any taxes. I have always lived under the assumption that I was not withdrawing large sums of money from neteller into bank accounts because I burn through money like its nothing. Today I did some book keeping for the year and was analyzing my neteller account details. It turns out more money has been withdrawn to my checking account from neteller over the course of the year and I had thought. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. According to my neteller transactions I have withdrawn 52,481.86 more from online poker accounts than I have deposited (I assume this figure is the closest thing to what i can come to as terms of "proof" of how much i have made for a tax return). I have also profited from live play this year (this money is easier to hide and Im not worried about having to declare any of it). I have been foolish and spent a considerable about of my money of traveling/entertainment/etc. This year I have bought a new car, (9800 in cash+10k car loan), and have been living in a house with friends where I pay rent but my rent payment isnt documented anywhere. My question is- How likely am I to run into serious trouble if i dont pay taxes this year? 100%? 80%? 50%? 10%? and if i pay taxes what are my best options for paying as little as possible (im like cash BUSTO now). Thanks for any help guys and sorry for the length/boringness

[RoundGuy]

You have made at least 50k+ in non-payroll deposits to your bank account (much more if that is your "net" amount). I don't know how often, or in what $$ increments you did this, but if it could in any way be construed as "structuring" (you might want to look that up) then you may well be getting a knock on your door.

Find a good accountant, and pay the taxes you owe.

You didn't mention last year, but you might want to analyze what you did and file a late, or amended, return.

[abracadabra310]

So many people say that if you don't pay your taxes, the IRS will catch you. Has anyone ever actually been caught? If so, what are the penalties: back taxes, interest, fines, imprisonment??? Also, what do you think was the main red flag that gave it away?

[damaniac]

Can you still amend past returns to make up for it? What is the deal on that?

[wall_st]

[ QUOTE ]
So many people say that if you don't pay your taxes, the IRS will catch you. Has anyone ever actually been caught? If so, what are the penalties: back taxes, interest, fines, imprisonment??? Also, what do you think was the main red flag that gave it away?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ask willie nelson.

[wall_st]

[ QUOTE ]
Can you still amend past returns to make up for it? What is the deal on that?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes the IRS would have rather have you pay late then not pay at all. You will have to pay some penalties, late fees interest etc. Call an accountant.

[4_2_it]

Get a tax accountant. The IRS tries to work with filers who make a good faith effort but screw up. They like to make examples out of tax evaders. I'll leave it for you to chose which category you want to fall in.

[NL__Fool]

The chances of you getting caught are slim unless you did something really dumb like transfer large sums of money around in big chunks, not just a little bit here and a ittle bit there, or fail to file taxes for 7 years etc.

The problem is that if you do get caught and you evaded taxes on purpose they will nail your ass to the wall With no mercy

[DrewOnTilt]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
So many people say that if you don't pay your taxes, the IRS will catch you. Has anyone ever actually been caught? If so, what are the penalties: back taxes, interest, fines, imprisonment??? Also, what do you think was the main red flag that gave it away?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ask willie nelson.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or Wesley Snipes.

Come on, what is all this mess talk here? Pay your damn taxes and then you'll have nothing to worry about. Or don't bother complaining about the lack of police protection on the streets when you get mugged.

[Poker_Ace]

Assuming you are not an audit risk for some other reason, your chances of getting caught are tiny (1,000+ to 1), but the consequences if you are caught would be severe (e.g., prison). The IRS knows they can only catch a small fraction of people in your situation, so they throw the book at those they happen to catch in order to give everyone else an incentive to pay their taxes. It is kind of like the lottery.

By not filing and/or reporting income, the statute of limitations is tolled. In theory, you could get away with it for 25 years and still get prosecuted once caught.

Structuring (making cash deposits of less than 10k to circumvent the bank's obligation to file a Cash Transaction Report for cash deposits of 10k or more) only applies to cash, not withdrawls from Netteller. You can deposit checks, wire transfers, etc. for millions of dollars and the banks are not required to report anything.