Received Est. Tax Form 1040-ES For First Time (cross post)

[Lucky]

I've been playing poker for supplementary income since 2003 and declared wons/losses and paid taxes each year 2003-2005.

I've been playing as sole source of income since April of this year. Today I get the 1040-ES in mail asking me for estimated tax by Sept15 and Jan 16. Some questions I have.

1. Can you recommend a good CPA in/near Green Bay, WI who handles gamblers filings?

2. Has anyone received these? did you receive it only after playing as sole income?

3. Based on their charts and my estimates, the amount I'll be paying on winnnings will be less than 20%. This cant be right. What am I missing?

4. Also, how do I estimate for different dates? Is Sept 15 one for all money I made from poker through then? and Jan for rest of 2006?

5. Is there any important info you can give me not included in questions above?


Thanks alot, this is new to me.

[Pokeraddict]

Did you use tax software to file your return? If so it would have told you what your estimated quarterly tax should have been. I got the form today too but these forms were also printed up when I filed my taxes.

I do not see why you would need an accountant for this. Divide the amount of tax you owed in 2005 by 4 and that is what your quarterly should about be. It is simply an estimate and any penalty would be based on last years taxes, not on how much you owed. It has nothing to do with how much you made in a quarter, you still figure all that out at the end. This is just the IRS making sure you do not owe them more then you can afford to pay come tax day.

* Disclaimer - I am not an accountant

[Theodore Donald Kiravatsos]

I don't understand this form. Let me offer you a suggestion, though. My tax software LAST year indicated that figuring your tax or any penalties will be much easier next April if you make uniform 1040-ES payments throughout the year.

So what I suggest is:

After some more knowledgeable people help you figure out this little IRS bag of happiness, and you know what you intend to pay them, pay the same amount each time. Like, make all your checks for $750. Don't pay more or less from payment to payment as this may complicate your taxes in April.

Also note that the stupid weiner due dates are NOT three months apart. One time they give you four months to hustle up a payment, another time, they give you only two. This puts a strain on the "level payment" plan if you bit off more than you can chew in the first place.