WSOP: Bubbling better than a weak cash?

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Have you verified this with a tax professional?

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Isn't Raymer and accountant? Or was? That doesn't necessarily mean he's an expert with taxes, but it would give him insight, and since he's got first hand experience with a few dollars won/lost, I'm not sure I'd question him. IMO, of course.

How about if you qualified in a satellite? If it was something like a $39 on Stars, getting $7,500 after taxes would be a nice payout. Even a $1k satellite at the Rio would net you a $6,500 profit. I'd take the money in that case rather than the seat and risk getting nothing.

[SoftcoreRevolt]

You are thinking of Moneymaker. Greg Raymer was a pimp in his pre poker life.

[broiler]

There was a thread about this very topic last year at tax time and my professional opinion at the time was that Greg is correct because the seat is non-transferable and therefore has no value until the seat is used. The fact that the seat is non-transferable is the key to keeping the seat from being taxable. The theory is that if Greg, for whatever reason, is unable to attend the event, he received nothing of value and would not receive the value of the seat for missing the event.

A satellite won on the internet is usually transferable and would be taxable when you win because the seat has a cash value at the minute you win. Any option that creates a value for the seat would make the win immediately taxable.

Another poster called the IRS to verify my opinion of the taxability of satellite wins and, after an hour on the phone waiting to find someone that could answer the question, was given the same answer that I laid out above,

Sir, you're new, so I'll cut you some slack. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER doubt the FossilMan. Are you not aware that he is an excellent poker player? Did you not see the 2004 WSOP ME? Did he not make over $300k this year? The man is to be regarded as a deity. I wear his glasses at my home games. In all seriousness, though, he's played in many tournaments, so, I wouldn't doubt he knows what he's talking about. He didn't just come out of nowhere and win the ME, he's been playing for a while.

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You are thinking of Moneymaker. Greg Raymer was a pimp in his pre poker life.

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No, I believe he sold AmWay. Ha Ha Ha.
Actually, I believe he worked as a patent attorney. Greg, give me a call, we'll do lunch.

[ QUOTE ]
There was a thread about this very topic last year at tax time and my professional opinion at the time was that Greg is correct because the seat is non-transferable and therefore has no value until the seat is used. The fact that the seat is non-transferable is the key to keeping the seat from being taxable. The theory is that if Greg, for whatever reason, is unable to attend the event, he received nothing of value and would not receive the value of the seat for missing the event.

A satellite won on the internet is usually transferable and would be taxable when you win because the seat has a cash value at the minute you win. Any option that creates a value for the seat would make the win immediately taxable.

Another poster called the IRS to verify my opinion of the taxability of satellite wins and, after an hour on the phone waiting to find someone that could answer the question, was given the same answer that I laid out above,

[/ QUOTE ]OK that makes sense. Thanks for the explanation.

[SUfan5]

If the satellite is non-transferable such as a PPM cruise, how would the tax situation work with that?

[Shoe]

Almost every satellite i know of online is non-transferrable (for your first win).

For example, what if you win a Stars PCA seat? Obviously, the 1k cash you get is taxable immediately, but when would the free hotel room be taxable? Now or next year, and how do you determine the value of it?

I would think that since the seat is non-transferrable, the same rules would apply -- not taxable unless you cash in the tournament. Or would you need to claim the seat as a loss next year? And if you claim it as a win this year, could you even claim it as a loss next year since the win/loss took place in seperate years?

Unfortunately, this won't be an issue for me as I don't think i'm going to try for this tourney.

[broiler]

The gain or loss would be determined at the time of the tournament, unless you received cash before the time of the tournament. The situation would work exactly the same as described for the WSOP seat.