105 replies to this topic

[Balloon guy]

Acid_Knight, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:15 PM, said:

Ok:1. I knew about quarterlies to avoid paying 5 figure tax bills2. I currently have 5 months of expenses in the bank and my poker roll could easily have the 6th month taken off without making me remotely concerned about having a proper bankroll3. When I travel, if I'm writing things off, doesn't that kind of imply that I have a business set up or something like that?4. Thanks for all of the advice and well wishing (and PWYGB, etc)So, who can recommend a good accountant? Other suggestions?

Yea, you want to be really positive before you get write off happy. Travel expenses are an area the IRS is very clear on and they have tightened up a lot. Get real CPA advise before you start writing off Lobster dinners in Boston because you played a $10 Sit-n-Go online that morning.

[Acid_Knight]

Balloon guy, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:16 PM, said:

If you're a single young man I would skip this, personally.If you're a father, or have so so health, then get a Health Savings Account.In a nutshell, you get a catastrophic care only type policy, with like a $5,000 deductible. So it's >$100 a monthThen you deposit the maximum each year into a seperate Health Savings Account, which is just a checking account with a bank that does this.Any and all medical expenses, from seeing the doctor, to buying asprin, you use the checking account to pay, and all the money you put in is tax free. Any money at the end of the year stays in there, and you max it out the next year. All this money is tax free and you can withdrawl any money in there when you retire without any tax implications. If you are going to have health care as a self employed person, this is the best way to do it by far.

Sounds like excellent advice! I'm also assuming that should be <$100 a month, no?

[Acid_Knight]

Balloon guy, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:19 PM, said:

Get real CPA advise before you start writing off Lobster dinners in Boston because you played a $10 Sit-n-Go online that morning.

DAMNIT!Plan B then I guess....

[Balloon guy]

Acid_Knight, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:20 PM, said:

Sounds like excellent advice! I'm also assuming that should be <$100 a month, no?

My advise is generally -EV, but on taxes I have a lot of horror stories,Might as well learn from my mistakes

[Balloon guy]

Acid_Knight, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:21 PM, said:

DAMNIT!Plan B then I guess....

Shrimp salad at Boston Market?

[Snamuh]

mase_gotsem, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:53 PM, said:

Dude if most of your play is gonna be online dont pay taxes find some one in vegas that will swap online for cash for a small % or even free. only claim your live play winnings as income. imo good luck with it and have fun

This post is pretty much the reason the government is enforcing the UIGEA and giving online poker players so much trouble. Keep engaging in money laundering and giving the government a reason to despise online poker. I hope you get sent to prison because you are screwing over honest players like myself.

[Snamuh]

The real question is:Can a first year professional actually file taxes as a professional poker player? From what I've heard, I need 2 years of records of poker playing before filing as a professional.

[I_fold08]

Snamuh, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 7:32 PM, said:

This post is pretty much the reason the government is enforcing the UIGEA and giving online poker players so much trouble. Keep engaging in money laundering and giving the government a reason to despise online poker. I hope you get sent to prison because you are screwing over honest players like myself.

the government will never accept online poker, they will accept soccer and hockey before that happens

[Balloon guy]

Snamuh, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:33 PM, said:

The real question is:Can a first year professional actually file taxes as a professional poker player? From what I've heard, I need 2 years of records of poker playing before filing as a professional.

Can you file a DBA in the local paper, which 'creates' a business that receives all rights to write offs etc.?

[Balloon guy]

I_fold08, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:36 PM, said:

the government will never accept online poker, they will accept soccer and hockey before that happens

NEVER

[FCP Bob]

Good luck and congrats Acid.I would assume that there are more accountants in Las Vegas who understand the tax situation for poker players than in other places so you should be able to find good advice.As others have said make sure to get out of the house and do other things. When you work from home whether it's poker playing or something else it's important to get away and interact with others.

[mase_gotsem]

Snamuh, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 6:32 PM, said:

This post is pretty much the reason the government is enforcing the UIGEA and giving online poker players so much trouble. Keep engaging in money laundering and giving the government a reason to despise online poker. I hope you get sent to prison because you are screwing over honest players like myself.

im from canada eh .. i have no clue about your goverment and tax issues involving online poker . so to hope i get sent to prison is a tad out of line although it is criminal what i suggested but meh i could care less about tax i owe 12k that i keep getting penelized on becouse im too lazy to wake up and go pay it lol

[Vtlaxer09]

Snamuh, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 7:33 PM, said:

The real question is:Can a first year professional actually file taxes as a professional poker player? From what I've heard, I need 2 years of records of poker playing before filing as a professional.

curious about this as well... as im in a sort of trial period to see whether or not I might want to pursue it/ if its profitable enough for me to do in the long term.

[Merby]

Congrats and good luck Acid!I have no advice, but still wanted to wish you the best.Cheers,Merby

[20TN40]

Congrats Acid!!! Best of luck!!!(I bet DN, JC, S7S, etc. could start you off in the right direction!)

[bhaas]

Are you liable for income tax? Is there a law that compels anyone to file andself assess a fraudulent tax liability?Call, or write like I did to the IRS and ask them to show you or prove to youthat your liable and send it certified return receipt.You'll never get an answer, but you'll have something to take to court if theIRS tries to act above the law and steal your money.IRS=Hitman for the Fed Reserve Bank.Fed Reserve Bank=Privately owned bank. Not owned by the USA.Hmmmmmmmm. Something is fishy here.Brad

[NoSup4U]

Balloon guy, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:19 PM, said:

Yea, you want to be really positive before you get write off happy. Travel expenses are an area the IRS is very clear on and they have tightened up a lot. Get real CPA advise before you start writing off Lobster dinners in Boston because you played a $10 Sit-n-Go online that morning.

I agree on getting CPA advice. Per mine, if I play a significant amount while traveling, the trip is a business expense. Your mileage may vary based on CPA I guess

Snamuh, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 4:33 PM, said:

The real question is:Can a first year professional actually file taxes as a professional poker player? From what I've heard, I need 2 years of records of poker playing before filing as a professional.

You can and should vile based on whatever you're doing. What would you do the first year if you didn't file as a professional gambler, just not file? The govt is happy to get your money however they can imo ;)Mark

[TravisG]

mase_gotsem, on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008, 1:45 AM, said:

im from canada eh .. i have no clue about your goverment and tax issues involving online poker . so to hope i get sent to prison is a tad out of line although it is criminal what i suggested but meh i could care less about tax i owe 12k that i keep getting penelized on becouse im too lazy to wake up and go pay it lol

wat?way to own yourself dude.

[gilbertology]

NoSup4U, on Monday, August 18th, 2008, 9:17 PM, said:

I agree on getting CPA advice. Per mine, if I play a significant amount while traveling, the trip is a business expense. Your mileage may vary based on CPA I guess :)You can and should vile based on whatever you're doing. What would you do the first year if you didn't file as a professional gambler, just not file? The govt is happy to get your money however they can imo ;)Mark

gl acid, make lots of money in the next year, then invest a portion of your profits so if you decide to get a real job again you can take a few months off traveling beforehand.My first year I filed as unemployed, which although you don't get any tax write-offs on, the % you are taxed is slightly less than filing as self employed(professional player). The second year I filed as a professional poker player, which has a lot of advantages like tax writeoffs, creating a roth IRA, etc., but the % of your winnings you have to give up is more. Oh man, I hate having to give the government a lot of money every three months. Next year they'll be giving me a slight refund tho because of no huge tourney score this year.edit: if you are off your company's insurance plan, you should def look into getting some kind of basic health insurance or catastrophic health insurance. I have an Aetna PPO plan where I only pay $125 a month, and I saw a doctor for my knee once and a different one for my neck the next month and had to pay $30 together for the copays and $15 for the prescriptions. Basically, the purpose of getting health insurance is in the off chance you get into a very serious accident where you are hospitalized for days and have a huge medical bill, though as an internet poker player it would seem harder to do.

[SpeedKills]

gl Acidnot to derail the thread, but what about the occasional player that works a full time job and maybe makes an extra 300-1k a month?Im assuming you should file under extra income, but what if you dont make withdrawls and its still in the account?