Paying Taxes?

[Lifewontwait790]

I guess this is the best subsection to post in since most poker players probably already know about this.

I heard somewhere that if you win some amount of money less than 10K in a year that you do not need to claim this on your taxes. Is this true? I just got real lucky in a tourney (er donkament) and won 3k... am I required to pay taxes on this?

Thanks and I apologize if this is in the wrong section.

-Life

[ELCowboy]

Yes, minus your gambling losses if you can prove them. Do you keep a log?

[All in Che]

pff who pay taxes these day.... not me

anyways what do you mean by minus gambling losses?

[Niediam]

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pff who pay taxes these day.... not me

anyways what do you mean by minus gambling losses?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm assuming we are talking about the US here. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

You owe federal tax on the total of your winning sessions. You then have the option of itemizing your deductions and deducting the total of your losing sessions (but only up to the total of your winning sessions).

OP: You are supposed to declare your gambling winnings even if its just $1.

[Lifewontwait790]

So... my grandmother that goes down to the casino once a week and puts $5 in the machine is supposed to keep a log of wins and losses and declare it on her taxes?

And to answer a few questions... no i don't really keep a log anymore. I used to but now just play the occasional tourney every now and then and am not too serious about it.

Niediam, yeah I am talking about the US.

[Niediam]

[ QUOTE ]
So... my grandmother that goes down to the casino once a week and puts $5 in the machine is supposed to keep a log of wins and losses and declare it on her taxes?


[/ QUOTE ]

Correct