| This is a discussion on Online Winnings - Taxes within the online poker forums, in the General Poker section; Hi guys, I`ve just started playing poker online in 2008.. i did not win that much so i`m not expecting PS to send me any ... |
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| Online Winnings - Taxes Hi guys, I`ve just started playing poker online in 2008.. i did not win that much so i`m not expecting PS to send me any tax forms.. but some of you already know more about it then i do, so here are few questions i need answers for.. 1. How much do you have to win to receive a tax form from Pokerstars? 2. Is it a combined amount for the whole year of winnings or 1 win needs to be over that amount? ex. I play 100 tourneys (for one year) and win combined total of 700, or 1 tourney and win 700. Lets say anything above 600 is being put on the tax form. In which case will the tax form be issued? combined? single win over 600 or BOTH? 3. What about cash games? this makes me feel like its the combined amount of winnings for the year... So here's an example.. tell me if in this case someone would be issued the end of year tax form or not.. I deposit $100 into pokerstars on Jan1st 2008... play 1000 tourneys. combined winnings come out to $1000 dollars , all the winnings are on avarage $40. Will PS issue me a tax form? Thanks.. I`m asking those questions since this is the first year i started to play online... |
| Play Texas Hold'em Online Poker | Online Winnings - Taxes | |
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| Stars issues you no forms. You are required to report everything yourself. If you file taxes (there are rules on that, but I'm assuming you work and already pay taxes) you must pay taxes on everything you earn. You can deduct losses up to winnings but they must be filed separately. Say you made 1k in the year. It's probably more like you won 4k but lost 3k. You must have earnings of 4k on there and you can then deduct 3k on a separate line. Basically Stars has no business with the US government. They don't deal with US taxes. That's your responsibility. You are required to pay taxes on 100% of your earnings, whether it's a dollar or 100k. In fact even if you lost money I'm pretty sure you are required to report the winnings and then you can deduct enough losses to offset winnings. Don't think that would affect amount paid so probably wouldn't get in trouble for not doing that. But failing to report taxes you owe is illegal and tax fraud. Remember they only got Al Capone on tax evasion. |
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| I was a student and didn't play enough to make enough money to report last year (I said every penny you have to report but that's only if you're already filing taxes. I think the limit is like 9kish for minimum to pay taxes which is total income from job, poker, other sources, etc.), but I fully intend to pay taxes for this year's income. |
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| Wow, never thought of the taxes thing, is tax something only US players should worry about or Canadian players pay tax to? Are taxes for players who are withdrawing, or do you have to pay taxes on big winnings even if you dont withdraw? Can someone explain the whole taxes thing, Lol. |
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| btw I'm not a tax expert, I've gotten all my information through the internet from various places. If you want an expert opinion hire an accountant. I take no responsibility for the following of any of my advice and my only claim I will make for what I posted is at the time of posting I believed it was true. There now I can't get sued . |
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| Thanks guys! i figured that they issue forms as well as casinos do when you win more then 600/1200... In reality i dont know anyone who pays taxes on casino winnings of less then the $600. Thanks once again i`ll speak to my accountant then.. |
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Extremely difficult subject to discuss and very few people know how it really works (including many accountants without looking it up ) There are several areas on the web that discuss the subject with expert guidance. It is pretty messed up overall and weighted to gip the poker player (and other gamblers). If you are following the law properly - every single penny you make playing poker is subject to tax treatment. It is NOT when you WITHDRAW it, it is the second you MAKE it. THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to track poker play (and one the IRS accepts) is to keep a daily record of your poker sessions and then apply the tax aspect once tax time rolls around. If you play poker it makes sense to at least get a grasp of how the US Tax System treats gambling gains so you can prepare yourself properly. Everyone please read the expert sites/discussions and/or talk to a knowledgable accountant. |
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I would HATE to see anybody here own a business, as the taxes will eat you alive.... THey did me! The ones who do know exactly what I'm talking about.... I wish you could all see how much I owed in taxes last year, you would shit your pants! The worst thing is that I know people who owe even more! The cool thing is when your self employed you can write things off. I don't know if this would work for a Poker player, as I have never reported anything win wise on my taxes, because I have yet to have the pleasure of doing so. As a business person and being self employed you can write off so much of all of your personal bills such as your house payment, electric, water, ect... As you have a "home office"..... It is worth asking a tax professional if this is what you do for a living. Quote:
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| re: Online Winnings - Taxes poker Oh yeah...the $10,000 threashold thingy THAT IS A FALACY.....anyone who proceeds thinking anything they do under $10K will go under the radar is making a large mistake I will not go into the complexities.....but any SUSPICIOUS activity deemded so by the Bank and reported to Fed authorities will be on document for the Treasury Dept to investigate. The US puts a ton of pressure on Banks to report such activity and it has NO MINIMUM DOLLAR THREASHOLD!!!! |
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| Well Zach, you're off the hook I guess =P Yeah, next time I'll withdraw I guess I'll mark it off. At least I got PokerTracker to keep record of my sessions and I don't have to calculate anything. Thanks guys for the Information. |
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| its only income if you bring it into the country? I know that it is taxable upon winning and not cashing but is IRS seriously auditing poker games on internet for taxation purposes? Ask AG...he is w2 as pro gambler and knows more than I in this area. Also, What zack holds true 4 me about being sued. Please investigate and determine your own conclusions mine is merely an opinion. |
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| You play tournaments? opr and sharkscope exist. Play cash? Tableratings is for most major sites. These could probably not be used as proof against you in an audit but it could trigger an audit if somewhere you are linked to to your screen name or it's basically ever found out. During an audit the burden of proof is on you to prove your winnings, so you can't rely on stuff they can't find out about. If you don't have detailed enough records, be prepared for them to make them up for you. If you do (HEM/PT databases), they can basically ask to see them in full. The irs is good at what they do, and poker players try to skip paying taxes all the time. If you think you have a good scheme/excuse, they've probably seen it a thousand times before and they're going to see right through it. So sure if you don't report there's a good chance you don't get caught. But just remember that they know that too so that the ones they do catch they make it especially unpleasant as a further deterrant (I believe it's just pay tax+interest+penalty for negligence and extra fines/penalties and probable jail time for actual fraud). Anyway long story short they make it such that it's beneficial for you to just pay taxes on it, and you should just do it. It's not worth the hassle to avoid it. |
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Large deposits above and beyond your normal banking standards can trigger 'suspicious activity' reports, especially if they are just days apart. During an IRS audit, they can also require you to produce your bank statements. Any idea how you would explain those 3 separate $5,000 deposits in January when your standard paycheck is on auto-deposit for $932 a week ... ?? I figured out how to get around it though. If I only cash in one Stars dimer each year for $.49, I can round down and not have to report ANYTHING !! ... |
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| Speaking on Audits....... everybody here within the United States knows they are required to keep all records of everything from Bills, Checks, Receipts, ect..... for 7 years!!!!! If you were selected for an Audit they can only go back 7 years, so just an FYI. |
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1. Your computer is deductible for the % of time you use it for your business. So if you spend 75% of your computer time playing poker, you can deduct 75% of the expense. 2. Assuming you have a "poker area" say an office or desk, you can deduct the % of sqft that you are using as a percentage of your total rent and utilities. So if you have a 2,000 sqft house and your office is 100 sqft, you can deduct 5% of your rent and utilities. This is assuming your area is 100% used for poker. 3. Where most people will find help is in travel. ANY travel to play poker can be an expense. This includes travel to and from a local casino (and this year I think the write off is $.53 a mile) or long distance (say for a tourney). I believe even driving to your friends for a local game would be considered. 4. Another area that you can deduct is tools such as books, lessons, or any business get togethers. So if you take your poker friend Bob out for dinner with the intent of discussing your poker business, you can write that off. Again I'm not an accountant so please research on your own, but these should be a good starting point. The write offs help offset the insane amount of taxes you will pay (15% off the top + whatever your federal taxes are). As a standard I would always take 35% of my earnings and hold them in an account I couldn't touch. I thought that was extremely aggressive and I still owed a few grand in taxes at the end of the year. |
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| Maybe I missed it, but if the money isnt withdrawn from the poker site, do you still have to claim taxes on it? If yes, then I have to ask the site for documentation of deposits, winnings/loses, withdraws? Also, say I play $100 and lose it all, then quite gamleing. On my taxes I would claim winnings as $0 and loses as $100 and it would equal out to $0 because loses cant be more than winnings? |
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| Going back to the Barry Greenstein thing, if you make one $9000 deposit you probably can get away without reporting it. If you are consistantly making $9000 deposits you are going to send up more red flags then at a communist rally. |
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| I have never been taxed on my winnings. And I have with drawn more than 1000 dollars at a time from bodog. Was I suppose to claim that on my taxes? |
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In your $100 dollar loss example, I'd say if you lost it all at once, then you don't need to report anything. But that's not how it usually happens. You usually lose some, then win some, then lose some, then win some, etc, until you finally lose it all. It that case, you need to keep a log of it all, and report your winnings, which can be offset on your itemized deductions by your losses. See the my long post above quoting from the IRS Publication. Quote:
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