NEW Tax question

zero

I'm fairly certain this hasn't been asked before. Say you play limit hold'em for a living, and like a good citizen you pay taxes on your winnings every year. If you enjoy playing an occasional MTT and one day you make a big score, would you be forced to pay taxes on this win since you've already classified yourself as a professional poker player or could you simply argue that you play limit for a living and only play the odd MTT for fun?

RAM_Eh

I would think that if you are a pro player, it doesn't matter what stream of revenue you have. All income must be reported. Even if is on the big wheel at the entrance of every casino.

zero

But what about that whole "reasonable expectation of profit" thing. If you suck at MTTs I don't think they can say that about you.

pkrfce9

I'm sure if you explain that to the nice tax people, they'll understand. On second thought, no, they won't.

Don't open Pandora's box if you don't need to.

GTA Poker

If you are a professional gambler then any winnings from gambling would be taxable, you cannot distinguish between different games. If you win 100k playing blackjack on e night you can't say that you are a poker player and not get taxed on the 100k.

zero

Ok then, but then does that mean if you lose $400 in blackjack you can also write that off as an expense?

moose

I know someone who works as a tax auditor for the Feds. I would be happy to forward your name to him...

Soup

I was under the impression that once you're in the books as a "professional gambler" any and every game of chance must be reported. If you were to win on a scratch and win ticket, I'm fairly sure its "supposed" to be reported.

ScoobyD

I glaze over tax questions on gambling winnings, because none of this is applicable in Canada AFAIK. Of course those commie Americans will try to take your money...

Yorkpoker

Soup wrote:

I was under the impression that once you're in the books as a "professional gambler" any and every game of chance must be reported. If you were to win on a scratch and win ticket, I'm fairly sure its "supposed" to be reported.

Just checked with my accounting office (specifically the tax specialist):

if you are a gambler, all winnings must be declared. Including tournaments.

If you incur a net losses those too can be declared, but only if you are already established as a gambler by trade. Meaning you can't be a doctor, make $300K/yr and decide that you will claim a $100K loss for the year.

I also posed a similar question to see how it breaks out - I asked "if you are a pro gambler and win a lottery (or scratch card) - must that be declared" and the answer is "(without all the research) the standard application of the tax law is that lottery winnings are always winfall. There's no skill there. As opposed to poker or BJ or something else where you can claim to influence the outcome."

Hope that helps.


***That is from an accountant but is only a qualified opinion, unbacked by research***

Hobbes

zero wrote:

Ok then, but then does that mean if you lose $400 in blackjack you can also write that off as an expense?

As long as you document your expenses you can write it off.
You can also write off travel/food etc.
Make sure you have receipts.

Hobbes