poker taxes

[theBruiser500]

Yes, someone suggested them to me too and they seemed very nice. But when I talked to them on the phone about my taxes I was completely lost, it seems like it would be helpful to get a background on this stuff. BTW, what sort of documentation could I provide? Like what about people that play poker live for a living, how do they provide documentation that they lost something? Also, just to clarify that 4k loan was to my dad and it turned into me giving it to him. It seems like even if that's not a valid thing to be tax deductible, I could just say I lost it gambling.

[Senor Choppy]

I'm really not the person to ask, but no one else is responding.

Everything I learned about the subject I found online. There is a ton of erroneous information out there, but if you find 10 sources with answers to a specific question and see 8 with the same answer, chances are it's accurate.

I keep a journal for online play (Statking, actually), and for B&M I do the same but also try and get any kind of receipt that confirms I was at the casino on that day and time (ATM receipts, ones from the deli, whatever). I don't think there's any set in stone standards, so basically, keep anything you might be of use for if you happened to get audited. Just saying you lost a random amount of money gambling isn't going to fly, there has to be some kind of paper trail.

Before the year is over, while you still have a chance to lower your tax burden, it would be a good idea to talk to an accountant so you aren't totally blind-sided in April.