Does the IRS have access to my epassporte atm transactions?

[DeadMoneyDad]

[ QUOTE ]
If you have a VISA logo'd or MasterCard logo'd card, then the Feds have access to your records, from VISA or MasterCard.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe, but if they want to use the in a court of law they better have a signed sopena!


D$D<--stalking him back!

[Robin Foolz]

[ QUOTE ]
If you have a VISA logo'd or MasterCard logo'd card, then the Feds have access to your records, from VISA or MasterCard.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe, but if they want to use the in a court of law they better have a signed sopena!


D$D<--stalking him back!

[/ QUOTE ]

every time they want to see specific records they need a subpoena each time. it's not like they have access to all this information whenever at the press of a button; visa/mastercard/amex doesn't just hand this data willingly. the irs and dept of justice have to argue jurisdiction (these cards are offshore issued) and they also have to convince the court you are likely doing something illegal.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

There is no conceivable way the IRS has the resources to track every ATM transaction in the country. Maybe if they've flagged you specifically they might be able to track these, but realistically, it's a longshot.

[Skallagrim]

God and Dick Cheney's staffers are the only ones outside of the NSA who know what is being data-mined "in the interests of national security" thanks to the patriot act (God, I hate that name every time I type it).

That said, the desire to find and link epass visa withdrawals to online gaming has got to be pretty much non-existent.

And it most likely would be excluded in any criminal court case as a violation of your 4th amendment rights. The only way around this is indeed a properly issued warrant or administrative subpoena which was the product of an investigation specifically directed at you (you terrorist gambler you).

Skallagrim

[daedalus]

If it's a U.S. ATM machine then they do not need a subpeona. Regulations on ATM processors require them to maintain this (and more) data for the U.S. government.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

the desire to find and link epass visa withdrawals to online gaming

I believe OP is more concerned about those withdrawals being flagged and identified as a sign of unreported income, that he is about being linked to a specific source of income.

Like me - I don't care if the government thinks I'm playing poker online as long as they don't think I'm making income from it. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

[dfwdevil]

Here's my take...fwiw

The point isn't whether the IRS has the power to do this now, or whether Visa/Mastercard will report to the IRS, or how easily. My opinion, having (unfortunately) had to work on some of these systems, is that no, this capability does not now exist. I would stake everything I own on it. But that's not the point.

The point is that this information is highly mobile and extremely durable. Some record in a database in another country, you say. Nothing to worry about. But that record is timestamped and linked with an identity; and it's stored in not one, but several databases; and those databases are archived on a regular basis; and those archives are distributed. There's absolutely no telling how long that data will survive or who will have access to it during its lifetime. These records are not going to decay like paper and they're not going to float off into the wild blue yonder. They will stick around for 5, 10, 20 years, unless regulations require otherwise. Data storage is literally that cheap. Natural disasters will not save you, companies going defunct will not save you, and privacy agreements will not save you. Anyway, the point is probably moot because my ePassporte card bears a Visa logo, doesn't yours?

I don't say consequences are probable, I'm saying they're possible. And if your winnings are small, your tax burden is small. Might as well pay in that case. If your winnings are large, well, the tax burden is painful. But it's a better problem to have than the other guy.

On the other hand: am I wrong in saying that a large online cash out does not necessarily equate to untaxed winnings. It may be you lost $200,000 playing poker that year in Vegas, but you pulled it together online and cashed out $100,000. Who's to say? You could probably prove that you had done so, and in that case your tax liability should be $0, right?

[DeadMoneyDad]

[ QUOTE ]
God and Dick Cheney's staffers are the only ones outside of the NSA who know what is being data-mined "in the interests of national security" thanks to the patriot act (God, I hate that name every time I type it).

That said, the desire to find and link epass visa withdrawals to online gaming has got to be pretty much non-existent.

And it most likely would be excluded in any criminal court case as a violation of your 4th amendment rights. The only way around this is indeed a properly issued warrant or administrative subpoena which was the product of an investigation specifically directed at you (you terrorist gambler you).

Skallagrim

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I am so worried about the the proposed reg.

On page after page they not only discuss evey possible way to track the gambling nature of a transaction from a gambling source to a US account and openly discuss the ways they plan to block it with the least effort.

While they don't currently plan to use this information for taxe collecting, they plan to at least block any such transaction. Then if they get away with that they plan to close accounts, and possibly even fine account holders!

How long until an IRS person says "hey we could use that data and we have a novel quasi-leagal sounding regulation that says if the bank do give it to us we'll put them in jail?"

How long until the banks go along with that!

If you think longer than a heartbeat you forget how they seemed to push for the UIGEA to solve their credit card collection issues resulting from on-line gambling!


D$D