Tax Implications

Hey guys I need your advice. I have been playing on pokerstars about a month now and have some winnings. Do I report income for tax purposes as a daily session winnings or when I cash out? I want to be clear with the tax man and want to avoid any complications with them. Please help...

I just did my taxes and I tally mine daily. Then I add my winning days together and my losing days together and keep 2 totals at year end. In the US, you can only claim as much losses as you have winnings (unless you claim expenses as a pro) AND you must state both your winnings and losses separately. NOT just the end result.

So if my total winning days = $1000 and my total losing days = $1500, I have to claim it as "$1000 -$1000". Not "$1000 -$1500". Plus if it's +$1000 and -$1000, that's what you must claim. Not just "$0."

Same with a profit. If my figures are +$2000 and -$1900, that's how I claim it. NOT just +$100.

There's a really cool book that really helped me with this stuff and it's especially for poker players. Check my review here: http://stickspoker.blogspot.com/2008...our-poker.html

Yeah unless you're filing as a pro you need to record winning and losing session separately. I just use what PT3 calls a session for mine. So I can have multiple sessions per day.

So sad that you US guys have to pay tax on your winnings. You play with after tax dollars, so why the hell should you pay? It really is time you took your legislators to task. You put your quarter in a slot and win, you buy a lotto ticket and win, you win some funds at poker and pay tax on it all. The Beatles moved to the US to avoid paying 97 1/2c tx on every dollar they earned. Those days are long gone in the UK and should be in the US too. In hindsight, you pay $300 for a toilet plunger ( according to military spending accounts ) no wonder one of the most famous sayings is "there's one born every minute". If you keep $10k or less in a bank account, there's no way for the IRS to trace it, so sod em.

We don't pay taxes on the dollars we deposit. We pay on the $$s that we win. It's income and we have a system that forces us to pay income tax.

Now if you want to talk about how ****ing stupid it is that I can't enter 1 line on my forms to report profit, I'll agree 1000%.

This tax is an extremely complicated issue. There are several sites that discuss US poker tax implications at length using experts. I suggest you read one of these expert laden guidelines so that you get it right.

FWIW, I use a daily register for live play, and PS-FTP Audits (as well as my HEM) for online

US citizens get really screwed when it comes to the mixture of gambling and taxes for sure!!!

Hey thx Stick66 for the info...I requested a playing audit and it gives me the breakdown.