Quick Tax poll (not whether or not you're paying)

[Niediam]

[ QUOTE ]
My definition of a session is that it begins when you buy chips (deposit) from an online poker site and ends when you cash those chips out (in the case of online to neteller or a bank account), just as I believe it does with live poker.
Also, I have absolutely no records of session by session play but I do want to be legitimate and pay taxes even if I only made like 10 or 15k, so bank and neteller records is all I have to go on.

[/ QUOTE ]

The IRS has ruled that such things as taking a long lunch break or switching from Hold'em to Omaha can trigger a new session with B&M play. I don't think your 'until I cash in the chips' plan is legal. Of course I really can't see any way for them to find out...

[RikaKazak]

well if we have to report by day, who the heck keeps those records? You think they're going to fine you thousands of dollars cause you don't keep tracker "per day."

According to pokertracker I have 2,049 sessions the past 3 months, so times that by 4 and i'm suppose to write out 8,000 sessions, YEAH FREAKING RIGHT!

I'm paying according to neteller withdraws. Otherwise my tax return would be MONSTEROUS! I'm paying on 100% of what I make, I can't see how they can be too upset.

[Niediam]

[ QUOTE ]
well if we have to report by day, who the heck keeps those records? You think they're going to fine you thousands of dollars cause you don't keep tracker "per day."

[/ QUOTE ]

I think its very possible. I think it's even possible (yet not anywhere near as likely) that you could have issues by keeping your records 'by day' as opposed to by table or something else more specific.

[ QUOTE ]
According to pokertracker I have 2,049 sessions the past 3 months, so times that by 4 and i'm suppose to write out 8,000 sessions, YEAH FREAKING RIGHT!

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe you are technically supposed to keep track of the sessions immediately after they occur as opposed to trying to figure it all out at the end of the year. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] But if you use PokerTracker you can just export your sessions (please note that what PT considers a session doesn't mean that's what the IRS considers one - but I'm sure its fine as it goes by a per table basis) to Excell and have a nice spread sheet printed out.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm paying according to neteller withdraws. Otherwise my tax return would be MONSTEROUS! I'm paying on 100% of what I make, I can't see how they can be too upset.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's why the law sucks. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

They will be upset because your AGI will be off and for most people during it your way will lower their tax burden. If you get caught the best case scenario is probably that you have to pay what you would have owed with interest. Worst case scenario is that they send you away for a few years (definatly very unlikey). Most likely they will want the money that you should have paid plus interest and fine you some amount in the thousands of dollars. None of this really matters if you never get audited but I'm going to guess that having a significant amount of gambling income, especially if it's reoccuring every year, increases the chance of said audit.

[MisterNatural]

After reading The Gambler's Guide to Taxes by Lewis I made a spreadsheet to track my play per session. A session for me is from the moment I open the first table to the moment I close the last one. I rotate tables keeping 4 open most of the time for anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours or so. I feel confident that this will be acceptable by the IRS, based on accounts in the book about previous rulings.

According to the book there are no hard fast rules on how to keep your records for internet play. For brink and mortar play the standard is that you should be reporting each table you play at. I think it could be a potential problem to try to report by year, neteller withdrawals, or even by site (deposit to withdrawal).

[Sniper]

[ QUOTE ]
(I'm sure day traders don't report income every time they sell a stock at profit).


[/ QUOTE ]

Why would you say this?

Day Traders report all transactions!