what to do with your winnings...

[TiK]

Every $5000 my bankroll increases, I get myself something nice, a gift to myself, something I've always wanted, e.g. iPod, digital camera, et al.

[NiR]

i pay for my college tuition and will soon be paying for my apartment with poker. also my other bills.

[Bradyams]

Even though I hate to withdraw from my bankroll I have had to do it a lot lately. Couldn't find a summer job, so been stuck playing poker, and now I'm getting ready to move back to school in a week. So I had to take a nice portion out to pay rent, and I've been havin gto buy a lot of stuff for when I move in. Food and gas money also come from my bankroll now.

The only thing I've bought that I wanted to buy for myself was my 2001FP.

[m bozeman]

I have taken two trips to Vegas in consecutive years, for a week stay each time. Went during WSOP this year, and would have played in the $1500 NL event, but didn't want to play against 2,000 players. Both trips were completely paid for with poker winnings, and had more than 3k to play with during each trip, plus more money at home in my poker accounts.

[cdxx]

hey, is there a thread discussing this more in depth? like amounts that i have to declare (>$500), cashouts that the bank will notice (like depositing $10k all of a sudden which hasn't happened for me yet).

[nef]

I generally invest all extra money, but I also like to spend a little, I bought all of my computers (I started playing 6 years ago on my parent's pc), paid for some vacations, bought several guns, and next up is to pay for an engagement ring. Then more guns.

[wegs the wegs]

Most of it goes towards school. Everything is paid up right now and I have earned one semester's worth so far this summer. I took a grand from my one and only tourney win and stuck in my ROTH IRA. Once the full year is paid for I'll start building myself up for the tax whip. I only get poker related stuff (books) through the pso.com and the site comps.

[ QUOTE ]
hey, is there a thread discussing this more in depth? like amounts that i have to declare (>$500), cashouts that the bank will notice (like depositing $10k all of a sudden which hasn't happened for me yet).

[/ QUOTE ]

I have also been wondering this lately. I know that there is an amount that if any check is over it gets checked up on. Not sure from who. I want to say $5000, but maybe it's $10000 now.

[Nigel]

[ QUOTE ]
hey, is there a thread discussing this more in depth? like amounts that i have to declare (>$500), cashouts that the bank will notice (like d me, jail and/or massive penalties is enough of a deterrent epositing $10k all of a sudden which hasn't happened for me yet).

[/ QUOTE ]

You "have" to declare everything you make. It's a voluntary tax system, so the burden is on you and it has nothing to do with how large your cashouts are.

I'm jealous of the people in this thread who can screw the IRS and still sleep well at night. For me the the fear of jail and massive penalties is strong enough that I just declare every last penny, even though I hate doing it. I don't think the "I didn't know I was supposed to pay taxes on gambling winnings so I bought myself a plasma and a new car instead" would go over too well in the event of an audit.

The risk may be low, but the cost is high. I have to think the IRS is going to be looking carefully at this stuff in the future with all the people playing online poker. YMMV.

Nigel

[handsome]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
hey, is there a thread discussing this more in depth? like amounts that i have to declare (>$500), cashouts that the bank will notice (like d me, jail and/or massive penalties is enough of a deterrent epositing $10k all of a sudden which hasn't happened for me yet).

[/ QUOTE ]

You "have" to declare everything you make. It's a voluntary tax system, so the burden is on you and it has nothing to do with how large your cashouts are.

I'm jealous of the people in this thread who can screw the IRS and still sleep well at night. For me the the fear of jail and massive penalties is strong enough that I just declare every last penny, even though I hate doing it. I don't think the "I didn't know I was supposed to pay taxes on gambling winnings so I bought myself a plasma and a new car instead" would go over too well in the event of an audit.

The risk may be low, but the cost is high. I have to think the IRS is going to be looking carefully at this stuff in the future with all the people playing online poker. YMMV.

Nigel

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree 100%.

I've bought myself two 2001fp's, 5-6 poker books, and paid for a $2k car wreck. Everything else I don't touch the bankroll.

[AcmeSalesRep]

[ QUOTE ]
hey, is there a thread discussing this more in depth? like amounts that i have to declare (>$500), cashouts that the bank will notice (like depositing $10k all of a sudden which hasn't happened for me yet).

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There are lots of threads here talking about taxes.

The short of it is (for most people)...

(1) add up the winning sessions and this is reported as income;
(2) add up the losing sessions and this is deductible as an itemizable deduction

If you do not itemize or your winnings push you across a threshold level (such as where you lose your education tax credits), you get screwed.

Acme