I know this has been beaten to death and i know there is a link on this site but i still cannot find a specific answer. Say i buy in into a tourney for 10 dollars and cash for 100, i know i have to report the 100 as income. but can i use 10 buyin as a loss of it itemize? or can you only deduct buy-ins as losses in which you didint cash?

any sound advice?

my gross is well over 10k this year so im doing something

if you dont file as a professional gambler, you cannot deduct losses

 

Originally Posted by BerkeleyBoss

its pretty rediculous to itemize each and every tournament you cash in....just pay taxes on whatever you cash out

thissssssssss

everyone that disects everything baffles me

as long as the government is getting a chunk of what's flowing into ur bank accounts/u are spending and have records of you paying taxes...I really don't think they care

only thing that has me worried is I've made a lot of $ for a college kid and obv my past jobs blew and so my taxes werent too much and now i got considerable flow going to and from my bank and I just wonder if the IRS will bug me BEFORE i get the chance to claim the winnings next year (whenever tax season is?)

 

Originally Posted by Duffy08

only thing that has me worried is I've made a lot of $ for a college kid and obv my past jobs blew and so my taxes werent too much and now i got considerable flow going to and from my bank and I just wonder if the IRS will bug me BEFORE i get the chance to claim the winnings next year (whenever tax season is?)

Duff please check pm, thanks. (I hate posting this but the envelop usually doesn't light up for me).

If you keep a running gross for the year ( which you should have) just use that amount as winnnings. A running gross should take into account all by-ins. Don't put every tourney on deduction form, that would be a real pain in the ass.

Dude

You only pay taxes on profit. Also if you haven't cashed out any, obviously dont report it yet. What I do is look up all my debit card deposits onto sites, then add up all the checks ive received from sites for the year and the difference is what I have to report. It specifically says on the tax form "Net Gambling Gains" or something along those lines. My family's accountant even told me to look for any additional expenses that were purely poker related. Since I won a decent amount of money at turning stone, and the sole reason I was even there was to play in their tournaments, I added gas, hotel, and all the buyins as well. Also many players have bought new monitors/computers/laptops strictly for their poker playing so those certainly count as poker related expenses. You just have to be able to prove its directly related to poker, and being able to play 30 tables at a time on your new 24" monitor counts as a legit excuse. In summary, only report the money you've cashed out minus how much you initially deposit onto the sites.

 

Originally Posted by Denty

You only pay taxes on profit. Also if you haven't cashed out any, obviously dont report it yet. What I do is look up all my debit card deposits onto sites, then add up all the checks ive received from sites for the year and the difference is what I have to report. It specifically says on the tax form "Net Gambling Gains" or something along those lines. My family's accountant even told me to look for any additional expenses that were purely poker related. Since I won a decent amount of money at turning stone, and the sole reason I was even there was to play in their tournaments, I added gas, hotel, and all the buyins as well. Also many players have bought new monitors/computers/laptops strictly for their poker playing so those certainly count as poker related expenses. You just have to be able to prove its directly related to poker, and being able to play 30 tables at a time on your new 24" monitor counts as a legit excuse. In summary, only report the money you've cashed out minus how much you initially deposit onto the sites.

almost everything you said is incorrect there...

You may be able to "get away" with all that... but it doesn't make it legal.

http://www.gambling-law-us.com/Artic...mbling-tax.htm

If you really want to do it right, read that link thoroughly...lots of good information.

well if its profit, you've already deducted your buyins (losses) right?

If you are talking about WINNINGS, at 75K - minus 60 K of buyins (losses)

then yes 15K is the taxable portion.

BUT, according to the IRS, you can't just list your profit. You need to keep detailed records and itemize your losses only up to the amount of your winnings.

I'm no expert on tax laws, but this is how I understand it. I would read that link above, as it has tons of good information. It was... eye opening to say the least.

Correct, which is why if you can file as a professional gambler, you should as you will save a decent % of taxable income. However, I have heard it is difficult to file as a professional, as they are very picky on what counts as a "professional gambler".

Wow.. there is alot of bad, unethical/illegal, and just plain wrong advice here. Your research is better spent finding a CPA who has dealt with poker players before. For a couple hundo you can get all the service and answers you need.

Let's say I have 20 K in profits

Let's say I have over 100 K in tournament winnings

I would pay taxes on the 20 K. I would not pay taxes on the total 100 K. How this gets done paperwork-wise I am not sure, I have to go see a CPA.

If the IRS wants me to pay taxes on the full 100 K, I am moving out of the country.

 

Originally Posted by Fkeplastictrees

You will end up paying tax only on the 20k in profits. Just has to be presented differently than that.

my brother is my CPA and all he's told me so far is he has it figured out and I won't be filing as a pro with his plan..but will still be claiming all my profit.

If we do it like that...will i still be able to deduct things like bought computers/laptops/monitors etc....

 

Originally Posted by Duffy08

 

Originally Posted by Fkeplastictrees

You will end up paying tax only on the 20k in profits. Just has to be presented differently than that.

my brother is my CPA and all he's told me so far is he has it figured out and I won't be filing as a pro with his plan..but will still be claiming all my profit.

If we do it like that...will i still be able to deduct things like bought computers/laptops/monitors etc....

Please take my comments on taxes with a grain of salt because I can only tell you what other tax professionals told me. I am fairly certain that you can only deducts computers/ monitors/ hotel bills as expenses if you file as a gambling professional. And once you do that, you will be subject to the 15% self-employment tax.