Pokerdb and the IRS

[N 82 50 24]

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I PM’d “N 82 50 24” with this question and he suggested throwing it out to the forum.

Does Pokerdb inadvertently help the IRS more easily identify poker-playing tax cheats?

Of course the answer is PAY YOUR TAXES, but assuming there are some people that won’t, does Pokerdb make it easier to identify these people? Since the U.S. IRS requires gross gambling proceeds to be reported, if a taxpayer reported less than the amount of winnings posted on the database wouldn’t that be a fairly automatic violation or invitation for an audit?

Obviously this information is available via subpoena from the poker sites themselves (assuming that in the era of terrorist money-trafficking, the sites would comply), but Pokerdb puts the information at the fingertips of even the laziest of IRS agents. Does the fact that pokerdb only tracks PokerStars tournaments and not the cash games or other sites affect either PokerStars or Pokerdb?

I’m not a big winner and I’m as anal retentive as they come with my records and filings, but I wanted to throw the question out to the group.

-Napawino

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Okay, I wanted the chance to respond publicly to this. Here's why I don't think anyone has to be worried in the case that they underreport.

First, there are so many different places you can win or lose in poker. Off the top of my head: cash games, satellites, MTTs, STTs, prop bets. We only have MTTs.

Second, there are a lot of places to play MTTs: PokerStars, PartyPoker, Dise, UB, Prima, Bodog, Pacific, FTP, PokerRoom, live in a casino, etc. We only have PokerStars.

Third, our results aren't perfect on a per person basis. Here are some of the reasons they can be off: other people can play on your account, you can play on another account, you can chop a tournament or you can go rebuy crazy.

While our data MAY cause the IRS to open an audit of someone (I have no idea at all if they even do that sort of thing), the data is VERY far from correct regarding someone's overall poker income. In addition, of course, the IRS would have to have access to our subscription service (display shown here: http://www.thepokerdb.com/sample.php) as the normal display is really useless for these purposes.

BTW, graydot (aka Paul) is the tech expert behind thepokerdb. Jurollo, can he get a title too? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[IHateKeithSmart]

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other people can play on your account

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This right here is enough to shed any worries about the taxman. You don't even have to go as far as arguing plausible deniability, etc., since the PS TOS doesn't forbid this.