anyone have a tax accountant in uptate new york for poker pros?

[DMACM]

Is am looking for a tax account in the upstate New York area that knows how to file for poker professionals. If anyone could refer me to a person either on here or through PM it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Dan

[meleader2]

Dee-Macs-Them, i have an accountant for you: His webpage

[DMACM]

Me leads them,
Like your new avatar.

[jasonfish11]

It is easy if all you do is play poker. All winnings and losses are put in a W2G. I realize this sucks [censored] hole. I feel that you should be able to file as a sole proprietor but there was a court case about this last year and the IRS won. Good luck finding an accountant, although if you made a substantial amount of money I would look into a tax lawyer.

I do know of a tax lawyer in NY but I believe he is in the city. And I only know him because he is a co workers family member (no experience talking to him)

The best way to find good answers is MSN tax corner. Go to google and type in tax corner and it is the first link. Good luck.

[DMACM]

[ QUOTE ]
It is easy if all you do is play poker. All winnings and losses are put in a W2G. I realize this sucks [censored] hole. I feel that you should be able to file as a sole proprietor but there was a court case about this last year and the IRS won. Good luck finding an accountant, although if you made a substantial amount of money I would look into a tax lawyer.

I do know of a tax lawyer in NY but I believe he is in the city. And I only know him because he is a co workers family member (no experience talking to him)

The best way to find good answers is MSN tax corner. Go to google and type in tax corner and it is the first link. Good luck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jason,
Thanks for replying. I have two questions. First why skip the accountant and go for the lawyer? Shouldn't an experienced accountant know what I can do legally? Second can you elaborate on the case the IRS won? My understanding was that it was established that one could file as a poker "professional" and net winnings.

[broiler]

Beware, Jason does not know what he is talking about. A professional still files as a sole proprietor (schedule C) for their tax return. There is no such court case that keeps a professional gambler from filing in this manner. However, the IRS has won cases against individuals who were determined not to be professional gamblers. Each of these cases give the reasons that the individual was not a professional and the criteria to be a professional.

A W-2G has nothing to do with filing a return as a professional. The W-2G is a form given by a payer of gambling winnings to the winner of the money.

I agree with your assessment that a tax lawyer would be overkill for this situation.

[PokeReader]

Tax lawyer is important if you have legal liability. Please read my post in the FBAR thread if you have any questions about this. It is important that you file if you are late, but be aware that there is not extension for Form TD F 90-22.1.