Paying taxes on bonuses

[DamnNuts]

At what point does a bonus become taxable?

Example 1: Many sites give a bonus that gets unlocked as you play. I'm assuming you only have to claim the portion of the bonus that has been unlocked.

Example 2: Party poker gave me a bonus last year that required a certain amount of raked hands played before I could cash it out. But I could immediatly play with the money, without a deposit on my part. I lost the total amount before reaching the required number of hands to cash out. So should this go unreported or do I have to claim the original bonus as income and the loss as a gambling loss in my deductions? What would have happened if I never lost the money, but just let the offer expire? Then it's not really a gambling loss.

Example 3: What about sticky bonuses? These are bonuses some casino sites give that can never be cashed out, but you can play with that money. I'm assuming you don't have to pay any tax on these bonuses. But I also guess you can't claim any loss on these bonuses :-)

[pokerasfd]

Go talk to a CPA.

[DoGGz]

Income is taxable when it's first availible to you. In these examples the money is not availible to you, so it is not income. Bonuses that you can cash out would be income.