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#1
02-06-08, 08:57 AM
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Here's how I do it, the old fashioned way.
I write down each session on paper. A session is either a) a tournament, or b) a cash game. For cash games, I define a session as a given game (LHE, for example) at a given stakes level in a given day. There used to be a great free poker diary online, but that disappeared about 3 years ago. The one the Hendon Mob has on their site is better than nothing, but its cumbersome to use and the sort function is nothing like the old mypokerdiary.com As for what the IRS thinks, my CPA friend says that as long as a system for reporting is internally consistant and there is the impression that it represents an honest attempt to comply, the IRS is fine with it. There is no GAAP regulation for gambling. Do they think my way is fine? No idea. I've never been audited in my life.
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"Animals die, friends die, and I shall die. But the one thing that will never die is the reputation I leave behind." Old Norse adage |
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#2
02-06-08, 12:52 PM
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This is my understanding of it too. My accountant look into this for me in detail a few years ago, and basically came back with a shrug of the shoulders for what I'm SUPPOSED to do, since the tax code is so outdated. When I showed her some PT stats and how I planned to group them by daily session and the numbers that resulted from that, she strongly believed that would be fine. She said if I was ever audited and pulled out all that data, she thinks the IRS would basically be fine with it and move on quickly.
It just irks me so much... I'd much rather report a "session" as like the net at the end of a given month or something, but I know that's not right, so I do my day by day thing. If anything, I'm actually too conservative with it, since I split out cash games and tourneys and HU SNGs, etc, potentially resulting in multiple sessions per day and thus higher gross numbers (the same net number, of course)... But without going insane trying to combine everything into exact daily totals, this is the best method I've come up with. As for old threads, follow the link I posted in the OP and you'll find some of the old stuff, including a link to the thread from the year before when I explained everything in detail (and I think answered Zy's question) and so on. But yeah, in a nutshell: Unless you lost EVERY session you played, you are required by law to report your total wins and your total losses (even if the net number is 0 or negative) to the IRS. Will they ever catch you if you don't? Realistically, probably not... but you need to ask yourself if this is a risk you are willing to take. I for one would not like jail time, so I try to avoid it at all costs. Last comment: If the shit ever hits the fan, don't think pleading ignorance will get you off the hook, because it won't. |
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#4
02-09-08, 09:10 AM
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Trust me, they care very much. Its just that the IRS doesn't *create* the rules. They just enforce those that already exist. Congress makes the rules, and they have had no interest in clarifying the existing vague rules for a few reasons.
1.) they're a bunch of idiots 2.) they only care about posturing about "saving" us from those evil online gambling sites to make themselves look good. 3.) The U.S. tax code is only comprehensible to those few lawyers and accountants who make it their life's work to understand it. Clearly, the only logical thing to do is to repeal Amendment XVI      
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"Animals die, friends die, and I shall die. But the one thing that will never die is the reputation I leave behind." Old Norse adage |
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#5
02-09-08, 11:42 AM
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No taxes over here in britain on any gambling wins so we do not have this problem
Now can somebody explain to me how the usa can tax you on something they made illegal |
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#6
02-09-08, 12:26 PM
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1. It's not illegal.
2. You are required by law to report all of your income, regardless of how you earned it. Lots of big-time gangsters have gone down for tax evasion, because that was the easiest way to bust them - Al Capone comes to mind, but I could be remembering wrong. |
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#7
02-09-08, 12:30 PM
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sorry i worded that wrong is it not illegal for usa citizens to transfer cash onto a poker site.I thaught that was why party poker had to shut to usa citizens
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#8
02-09-08, 12:41 PM
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It's "illegal" (loose definition) for the BANK to process the transfer. Party shut down U.S. play because they are a public company and were worried about how it would look if they were doing anything that could even be misconstrued by the general public as illegal... which obviously happens all the time. I mean, you are a poker player and don't fully understand the law (nothing wrong with that, btw - just saying)... so it only stands to reason that the average non-player would also assume "Online gambling is illegal in the US." At least that's how the people I know and meet seem to think.
Still a horrible decision by Party, IMO, but whatever. Their stock price tanked when they made the move, so goody for them. |
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