Dont worry about Frozen Funds. Worry about Forensic Accountants

[Sniper]

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I think that they will go after high-profile celebrity poker stars, then anyone not claiming 6 figure incomes, then 5 figure incomes, but nothing under that. They have limited manpower and will try and get the best Bang for their Buck (To set an example).

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At the moment they are going after the Neteller founders... there is no reason to believe, at the moment, that they are going after individual poker players.

[Strickly Bidness]

Guys, as I've said many times, just pay your taxes and sleep well. I'm claiming every dollar on my taxes this year that I made from poker. I started using Neteller in 2006, so there's absolutely no reason for not to claim it all, especially now that we know that neteller is handing over records.

[Zele]

I agree - if you haven't paid your taxes you deserve to sweat about this, and there is a remedy available to you.

If you are worried about being arrested for playing alone, I think you worry too much (obviously the chance isn't 0, but you probably have more to worry about from falling airplane parts, etc.)

[Mama Poker]

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The big problem is that the feds are using FORENSIC accountants to go over all the records Neteller has just handed them on a silver platter.

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Well, I'm not worried about frozen funds or forensic accountants my big problem is it's Valentine's day but my wife is having her "thing" and so I won't get laid even though I bought flowers and a card and candy. So, do you think I should get a hooker or would that cause me even bigger problems because maybe my wife wouldn't like that so much because, you know, we're married. And I suppose if I got a hooker I'd probably have to buy her flowers and candy and a card too because it's Valentine's day and that would cost me even more money than the sex and that would suck. Such a dilemma! What should I do, gaboon?

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If you still treated her like your valentine, it will be extra +EV this weekend. Good Luck [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

[ImBen]

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The big problem is that the feds are using FORENSIC accountants to go over all the records Neteller has just handed them on a silver platter.

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Well, I'm not worried about frozen funds or forensic accountants my big problem is it's Valentine's day but my wife is having her "thing" and so I won't get laid even though I bought flowers and a card and candy. So, do you think I should get a hooker or would that cause me even bigger problems because maybe my wife wouldn't like that so much because, you know, we're married. And I suppose if I got a hooker I'd probably have to buy her flowers and candy and a card too because it's Valentine's day and that would cost me even more money than the sex and that would suck. Such a dilemma! What should I do, gaboon?

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Most women are wicked horny on their period. What's your wife's problem?

[tizlinda]

I plan on paying taxes on the cashouts I made last year, but I don't at all feel comfortable paying taxes on the 6K i have frozen right now being that its indefinite and I may never get my hands on it. After all, its not income if you can never spend it, it might just as well have been play money. What are your thoughts on this.

[ericicecream]

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Isn't this a DOJ investigation, and isn't there some sharing of information act or something prohibiting federal agencies from sharing certain information uncovered during an investigation?

For example, if I understand correctly, if I report drug dealing money as income for IRS, the IRS can't legally go and tell my local law enforcement agency to arrest me.

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This is patently false.

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Perhaps you can expand on that?

[Billman]

90%+ of all poker players are net losers. So we would have to assume that the IRS is pouring all of this effort into trying to catch the ~ 10% who actually make money. Of that 10%, you're likely to have a nice curve that starts off with most people making chump change and sloping down quickly as the amount won goes up. Of all the winners, I'm going to speculate that over 50% are on the chump change side of the curve.

My guess is that the IRS is hoping to accomplish the following:

a) Find a few big fish who have under-reported income.

b) Put together a mountain of evidence against the online gaming sites plus gather evidence on other illegal activities.

That's not an a or b answer. It's a and b. I really don't think the IRS is going to get it's panties in a bunch and spend all of that money to go after some guy who netted out +$300 last year and failed to claim it. They do want to go after a guy who netted out +$300,000 and didn't report it though.

I also believe this is a data gathering exercise that they feel they can use in further criminal cases against sports books, online casinos, etc. I mean, let's face it, does anybody really think that bookies aren't laying off action to online sports books? There's likely to be mob money washing around inside Neteller too. Hundreds of millions of dollars are moving around and the US gov knows that some of it is up to no good. They want those accountants in there looking for the fishy activity that might lead them to taking down a major sports book operation (not online), money laundering, and other big arrests.

[WhoIam]

There's no reason to worry about this unless you cheated the government out of six figures or more (and this does apply to some people on this site). There aren't enough prosecutors in the country to go after everyone who should neglected to mention earning a couple k from online gambling.

[Subfallen]

I've paid all my taxes and filed my FBAR reports, but if they really start filing criminal charges against people for playing poker online, I will just leave this [censored] fascist regime and never come back.

Hell, I'd rather live in a Communist country where at least they're level-headed atheists who don't pretend they're ass-raping you for your own good.