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how much will i owe?(taxes)


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Well im trying to get all my records set and see how much i might owe come tax time. I live in colorado, im 20, a full time student and have had no other job except poker this year. It looks like my winnings will be around 40k and losses around 30k. I plan to file correctly and record my total winnings and total losses. Does anyone know how much money i can expect to pay? Thanks!!

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Well im trying to get all my records set and see how much i might owe come tax time. I live in colorado, im 20, a full time student and have had no other job except poker this year. It looks like my winnings will be around 40k and losses around 30k. I plan to file correctly and record my total winnings and total losses. Does anyone know how much money i can expect to pay? Thanks!!
There is a very good 'tax' section on pocketfives.com; I'd suggest going there, as well as talking to a CPA familiar with gambling/taxes. How much you pay will depend on how you file. It sounds like you don't work, so you can file as a professional gambler and pay 25% instead of 35% (someone correct me if those numbers are wrong). You will have to pay taxes on all your winnings, not just the 10k you are up, but you can use your losses as deductions. Patrick
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It depends on how you want to handle it. If you consider it as gambling income you would have $40,000 in income - $30,000 in deductions - $3,100 personal exemption = $6900 in taxable income. This would put you in the 10% tax bracket, so you'll owe $690 in taxes. This doesn't include any educational expenses you might be able to deduct, and if someone else is claiming you as a dependant. This doesn't include any state taxes either. You might lose your education deductions because you now have a high adgusted gross income. This could work out nice though because you can show an income for if you ever want to qualify for a home loan.You can also look into claiming yourself as a professional poker player. I would ask a professional tax preparer first if you want to pursue it.

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Yea i plan to consider it gambling income(thats what it is, and i want to be be completely straight with my taxes) and have 40k in income and 30k in losses. IM not worried about paying anything under 1k in taxes, im just scared ill get screwed and owe like 5k or something.

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You can either report it as gambling income, or as income from a business and then file as a self-employed gambler. If you file it as gambling income you have to show all of your wins as income, and then do an itemized deduction to minus off the losses. This is easier to file, but you have to show a large Gross Income, which might knock you out of some credits and deductions, and make your income higher for some state taxes.If you file as a self employed business you can write off your income and losses on the same form, and have more room to write off other things pertaining to gambling (travel expenses, lodging, etc). The con of this is that you will have to pay self-employment tax on top of your income tax, which can get VERY steep. This will also set you up for a better chance on getting audited. If you're sitting at home doing a internet gambling, it would probably be better to file it as gambling income. If you are travelling to a lot of places to play it would probably be best to file as a business. My guess is that you'll file it as gambling income.

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Yea i plan to consider it gambling income(thats what it is, and i want to be be completely straight with my taxes) and have 40k in income and 30k in losses. IM not worried about paying anything under 1k in taxes, im just scared ill get screwed and owe like 5k or something.
So you only made a profit of $10,000 this year? Is this enough for you to get by on? You don't mind paying up to $1,000. Man you must not have rent, car payments or any other major expenses do you? Last time I checked 10K doesn't buy to much now a days.
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So you only made a profit of $10,000 this year? Is this enough for you to get by on? You don't mind paying up to $1,000. Man you must not have rent, car payments or any other major expenses do you? Last time I checked 10K doesn't buy to much now a days.
First half of the year i was in high school and lived with my parents with no costs. Now i started college and my parents pretty much pay for everything as long as i get good grades. My expenses are food, and thats it. Most of that 10k is in savings.
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people who say that you only had 10k in profits are wrong.When it comes down to gambling taxes, YOU DON'T SUBTRACT YOUR LOSSES FROM YOUR WINNINGS. say you had 50k in winnings, but also had 30k in losses. You have to report your full 50k in winnings and use the 30k in losses as deductions. I talked to a few pro online players and that's the way it worksorry but you are going to have to pay atleast 25% on those 40k that you won. start saving up those scratchers, go to the race track and pick up all those losing tickets and go to the nearest casino and take out money from an ATM inside the casino and just leave..but SAVE The reciept. tell them you lost the money you took out, when you never really playedteneight

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do not, i repeat, DO NOT pay taxes on that money. seriously you dont need to.
bad example you are setting here. how could you get away from not paying taxes don? just wait until he gets audited, then he will be sorryanyways, what amount of money will one transaction need to bring up red flags to the IRS? i heard it was $10,000+...or is less/more?
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do not, i repeat, DO NOT pay taxes on that money. seriously you dont need to.
bad example you are setting here. how could you get away from not paying taxes don? just wait until he gets audited, then he will be sorryanyways, what amount of money will one transaction need to bring up red flags to the IRS? i heard it was $10,000+...or is less/more?
you just said the same thing buddy. scrach offs and all that. just keep the money in cash buried in your backyard.but seriously, take some money out for your small amount of expenses and keep the rest as a bankroll or something. you dont need to be worrying about taxes yet.
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Simple solution for all! If you have 10k in profit and dont want to pay taxes on it, enter a $10,000 buy in event! BAM! If you win you win big and the taxes wont matter cause youll be filthy rich. even if you DONT win, you STILL dont have to pay taxes becuase you have no money, becuase you lost all the money you made, youve broken even. Right?I mean hell, thats what the $10,000 buy in events are for! :club:

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If you file it as gambling income you will only be able to deduct I believe 3,500 for losses. Now if you file as a self-employeed gambler you will have to itemize (hope you keep good records) all your sessions. Taxable income under gambling income is roughly 36k under self-employeed 10 k. The great thing about the self-employeed route is you get to deduct things associated with the cost of doing business ie the cost of your computer, internet connection, I guess if you eat a Whopper while playing deduct that too.

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do not, i repeat, DO NOT pay taxes on that money. seriously you dont need to.
bad example you are setting here. how could you get away from not paying taxes don? just wait until he gets audited, then he will be sorryanyways, what amount of money will one transaction need to bring up red flags to the IRS? i heard it was $10,000+...or is less/more?
any bank transaction for more than 10K is reported to the IRS, but if you get audited I'm sure they can look at all transactions made to your account.
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sorry but you are going to have to pay atleast 25% on those 40k that you won
Uh i dont think that can be right. Why would i be paying 25% on 40k when i have 30k in deductions?
go to irs.gov and I'm sure you can get better info there, if you can't find what you need I'd suggest talking to a tax accountant. I wish I remembered more about it myself, I just took all these classes 3 years ago. :club:
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Id suggest you call a tax accountant or lawyer who specializes in taxes or even the irs and find out for sure. Everything you are hearing out here may or may not be correct so if you are that concerned take the time to find out whats really right.

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Well im trying to get all my records set and see how much i might owe come tax time. I live in colorado, im 20, a full time student and have had no other job except poker this year. It looks like my winnings will be around 40k and losses around 30k. I plan to file correctly and record my total winnings and total losses. Does anyone know how much money i canHow would the IRS find out about my online winnings?The reporting of online gambling income currently operates on the honor system. Most of the online poker rooms are licensed in foreign jurisdictions such as Costa Rica, Great Britain and Australia. These poker rooms fall outside of IRS jurisdiction and do not report your winnings to the IRS. Therefore, the only way the IRS can find out about your winnings is if you declare it on your tax return. Many poker players get away with never declaring their online winnings. Without cooperation from the online poker rooms, the IRS has little recourse. The U.S. government looses millions of dollars each year due to this loophole. In order to recoup this lost revenue, several legislators and industry leaders have vocally called for the licensing of online gambling in the U.S.
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sorry but you are going to have to pay atleast 25% on those 40k that you won
Uh i dont think that can be right. Why would i be paying 25% on 40k when i have 30k in deductions?
Because you're not listed as a professional gambler. Therefore, you have to pay taxes on your gross winnings, which is 40k. 30k in deductions isn't going to drop what you owe very far. More than likely, your 10k profit will go to the tax man.If you ARE listed as a professional gambler, then you would just report the 10k net profit as income and not worry about the winnings v. losses.
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