poker earnings and taxes

I have been making some decent money playin online poker and have withdrawn several times. I havent claimed any of this money and am wondering how this works. I live in Florida if that makes any kind of difference. Anyone have any info?

Send an e-mail to Jeb Bush and ask him if you need to claim your net winnings on line 21 of Federal form 1040. Also ask him if income tax evasion is what put Al Capone in jail. Be sure and use your real name.

seriously I wondered what wouldhappen had I actually done well in the FTOPS....and I concluded that had I done well enough to cash out..and win say 2500 dollars, that I would probably have contacted a lawyer.

You never know when the bank is going to tell the feds you made a strange deposit.

Tax evasion IS serious. This is from a FBI Federal Crimes web post.

26 U.S.C. § 7201 (2005).

The Crime
Under section 7201, it is a crime for a person to

• willfully attempt in any manner to
  • evade or
  • defeat
• any tax imposed by this title or the payment thereof.

The Punishment
Violating section 7201 will constitute a felony, and the punishment for doing so is

• a fine of not more than $ 100,000 ($ 500,000 in the case of a corporation),
• imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or
• both.

Furthermore, the defendant will have to pay the costs of prosecution.

Quite, a while back I have wondered what exactly to do. While searching I
came up with this very informative link. The author quotes:
All items are for information only and are not meant as tax advice.
http://www.taxabletalk.com/posts/1123805977.shtml

There is five parts or pages to this info^

Furthermore, from what a lot of the pros have told others. Win big, get a very good tax accountant.

Hope this helps some,
Andrew

My points were 1) It is against the law not to claim winnings.
2) There is a specific place in federal tax forms to claim winnings.
3) If you choose not to claim them, know that you MIGHT be caught and be subject to a significant penalty.

That being said, I suspect a lot of people do not claim them just like they would not claim a scratch-off lottery winning that was paid directly in the store.

well, seeing as how bodog is paying me through checks from a financial company in Georgia, there will be record. Ive tried callin multiple H&R Blocks and they have been no help.

If you win substantial amounts, and are even semi-pro, you should keep record of your wins and losses. You can claim your losses on your taxes along with the wins, but you will need to have a detailed record of it. There is even a special line on the 1040 form to claim gambling wins/losses.

A couple of rules to keep in mind:

1. Don't f*** with the IRS
2. Don't f*** with the IRS
3. Don't f*** with the IRS

o who cares as long as u dont cash out more then ten Gs it doesnt matter

Hmmm lots of posts discussing how citizens are held accountable to government or are otherwise intimidated by government. What is wrong with this picture?

If you deposit more than $10,000 into your bank at one time, or in one day you have to fill out a CTR (Currency Transaction Report). A CRT - cash transactions in excess of $10,000 during the same business day. The amount over $10,000 can be either from one transaction or a combination of cash transactions. You have to file this with the IRS, they want to make sure your not laundering money.

Also.....Here is what the government see's that you must pay taxes on, from what I have read in the past.

...winnings of $1,500 or more from keno, less the cost of the tickets bought on the winning game.

...winnings of $600 or more from horse racing, dog racing, or jai alai, if the winnings are at least 300 times the wager.

...winnings of $600 or more from poker tournaments.

...and winnings of $600 or more from state lotteries.

DDE alot of people in Michigan thought that buying cigarettes from Indian reservations would be a nice way to avoid one of the most expensive tax states in the nation.....

Those same people, end up with a HUGE tax bill when the state does find out....not IF the state finds out..but WHEN.

Also remember....now with the patriot act....ANY suspicious banking activity is to be reported....if you get 6 checks of 1000 dollars from a place a bank doesn't recognize, you're liable to be reported.

Take that however you want to take it....but if you make even a not so nice living off of playing poker, I would play it safe and use a little of that money to get a TAX ATTORNEY, NOT H&R block....

Canadian Benefits!!
To the Freezing cold of winter...
not to mention the Can. $1.oo = 1.014 U.S. as of this post.
..a warm house, a nice BR, a brew, and a final table..
and no worries about winning $ and having to report it!

But there was a site that I recall that had a great article on
Poker Winnings and the reporting to (I.R.S.)
Re; Hobby or as a Profession and the difference.

I will do some searching after my current Game..Sattelite to Sun. Hundred Grand
to post the link *(If I can find it again)...

For the Euro's amongst us, the general rule is that as long as the poker site is registered in the EU, the winnings are tax free. (EU ruling on lottery winnings).

You will need to get that confirmed with each site you use, as some are only semi-registered in Europe and tax legislation is generally the victim of local governments going nuts.