Poker taxes, help please

[bigcat_44]

Hi, this was my first year playing poker online and I was wondering what to do about taxes. I live in the U.S. and I play only on partypoker. I've made about $5000 net profit. I recently asked partypoker what to do about taxes and they said they do not report anything to the U.S. and it is the players sole responsibility to claim winnings/losses. I am wondering if anyone has not reported their winnings to the IRS and if I could get away with not paying this. I'm in college and anything I've made online has gone towards tution, money is tight. I dont even know how to file or what the exact amount I made is. Any advice that you can give I would greatly appreciate. Thank you.

[dealer_toe]

Keep records and report them if you plan on making anymore money. Start keeping records right now if you don't already. There is a lot of info on here and through google on how to keep records. I'm still working out the kinks on how I like to do it, and I just started to in Jan this year.

[lehighguy]

As long as you making less then 10k a year of poker I wouldn't give filing a second thought.

[csuf_gambler]

[ QUOTE ]
As long as you making less then 10k a year of poker I wouldn't give filing a second thought.

[/ QUOTE ]

this man speaks the truth

[PokerProdigy]

I don't know about the specifics but I thought from a legal standpoint you need to file anything (poker winnings, under the table jobs, etc...) if you made more the $5,000 within a year. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

But anyway, if anyone finds out let me know because next year I hope to make over $5,000 playing online poker as I too am a broke college student who could use the money. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[csuf_gambler]

i think legally its 7k

[bicyclekick]

[ QUOTE ]
i think legally its 7k

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure you're being a smarass...but while there are lots of things to [censored] with a person about, taxes isn't one of them...it's legal stuff.

You have to file even if you lost. There is no majic number.

[csuf_gambler]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think legally its 7k

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure you're being a smarass...but while there are lots of things to [censored] with a person about, taxes isn't one of them...it's legal stuff.

You have to file even if you lost. There is no majic number.

[/ QUOTE ]

im pretty sure you should do more research before you go off on someone.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=inet&Number=2012942&Forum= f14&Words=taxes&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=2012882 &Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=&daterange=1&newer val=1&newertype=w&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#P ost2012942

[bicyclekick]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think legally its 7k

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure you're being a smarass...but while there are lots of things to [censored] with a person about, taxes isn't one of them...it's legal stuff.

You have to file even if you lost. There is no majic number.

[/ QUOTE ]

im pretty sure you should do more research before you go off on someone.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=inet&Number=2012942&Forum= f14&Words=taxes&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=2012882 &Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=&daterange=1&newer val=1&newertype=w&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#P ost2012942

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, clearly I went off on you. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

I've been told this numerous times by different accountaints but maybe they're wrong. I think I heard 7k was the standard deduction that you lose because you're daily losses deduction is ofter greater or something. I really dont know totally what I'm talking about but I am pretty sure you have to pay taxes even if you only made 5k.

[Zetack]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
i think legally its 7k

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure you're being a smarass...but while there are lots of things to [censored] with a person about, taxes isn't one of them...it's legal stuff.

You have to file even if you lost. There is no majic number.

[/ QUOTE ]

im pretty sure you should do more research before you go off on someone.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=inet&Number=2012942&Forum= f14&Words=taxes&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=2012882 &Search=true&where=bodysub&Name=&daterange=1&newer val=1&newertype=w&olderval=&oldertype=&bodyprev=#P ost2012942

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, clearly I went off on you. /images/graemlins/confused.gif

I've been told this numerous times by different accountaints but maybe they're wrong. I think I heard 7k was the standard deduction that you lose because you're daily losses deduction is ofter greater or something. I really dont know totally what I'm talking about but I am pretty sure you have to pay taxes even if you only made 5k.

[/ QUOTE ]

You have to file a Federal Income Tax return if you made over 7950 dollars as a single person last year.

<a href="Tax Link" target="_blank">http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105097,00.html</a>

If you have to file a tax return you legally have to report any gabling winnings even if its only a dollar. Note that if you are reporting a dollar that can not be your net winnings it has to be your total winnings. In other words if you made ten bucks on a wager and lost nine bucks on another wager you would have to report 10 dollars in gambling winnings not one dollar. (You could list the 9 buck loss as an itemized deduction if you itemize deductions).


--Zetack


http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105097,00.html (tax link)

[WhiteWolf]

Zetack's advice is good, csuf_gambler's and lehighguy's is bad.

Here's a link to a site with lots of info:
http://www.onlinepokerfaq.com/guide/us-taxes.html (http://http://www.onlinepokerfaq.com/guide/us-taxes.html)

As you can tell by the posts in this thread, you're going to get a lot of conflicting advice on the internet. Since tax evasion is a felony, you should not trust anything you see here, and instead consult a tax professional for the definitive answer.

[varoadstter]

[ QUOTE ]
Hi, this was my first year playing poker online and I was wondering what to do about taxes. I live in the U.S. and I play only on partypoker. I've made about $5000 net profit. I recently asked partypoker what to do about taxes and they said they do not report anything to the U.S. and it is the players sole responsibility to claim winnings/losses. I am wondering if anyone has not reported their winnings to the IRS and if I could get away with not paying this. I'm in college and anything I've made online has gone towards tution, money is tight. I dont even know how to file or what the exact amount I made is. Any advice that you can give I would greatly appreciate. Thank you.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry if this was already done but I haven't read through all the responses. Here's the relevant information from the IRS website:

IRS FAQ - Reporting gambling winnings (http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419.html)

Now, some have reported about not having to file under certain circumstances (overall income is below minimum threshold, etc.) and if you are a college student it's possible this may apply to you. I am simply passing along the information in general.

FWIW,

I will be reporting my winnings this year. I have made about the same amount as you have.