Help Wanted - Tax Advice after Poker Tournament Winnings this weekend

theDude24 · Sep 18, 2012

Hey Folks -
So (brag) i did well in a poker tournament recently and took home about 35,000.
After taxes it was 23,000.

So - friends/family told me to look at getting an accountant coming tax times, and also finding out ways to do some write-offs so i can get a portion of that back.

anyone have some knowledge on how to file appropriately come tax season or helpful hints?

Murphy8276 · Sep 18, 2012

well u already paid the taxes.. so now ur job is to find ways to write off some of the win with losses.

u can only claim losses up to the amount u won.. so no chance of being negative.. but I would start finding receipts for everything gambled on and save them for tax time.. collect lottery tickets/everything.. because every $dollar u claim as a loss u will have that chance back at getting the taxes u paid in towards the 35k!

gl bud and imo an accountant isnt needed as itemized deductions on gambling losses from winnings isnt a tough task

here is some info on it if u need help further http://www.ehow.com/how_6670394_write-off-gambling-losses-taxes.html

gl bud and congrats! :toast:

-murph

loomis41973 · Sep 18, 2012

Friend of mine went around and collected lottery tickets from gas stations

bigbet1234 · Sep 18, 2012

Just be smart about it.

I have heard collecting lottery tickets to going to the horse track and collecting tickets.

But it has to look legit. Chances are, you won't be audited, but if you are, you best be able to explain the write offs.

I was audited by the State of Arizona back in 2004, which is usually unheard of to be audited by a state. I had an accountant down there do my taxes for gambling, he didn't know WTF he was doing. I was new to the gambling scene, in any event, I was audited, kept detailed records from the day I was gambling, to the table number, dealer name, VP machine #, etc.....They ended up owing me money, lol. They should have left well enough alone.

Good luck

Betallsports · Sep 18, 2012

When grabbing Losing Tickets, make sure there are no Foot prints on those Tickets.

I'm kind of doing the same thing with my winnings from the Hilton this past year.
Well not really last year, because the Contest ended in Jan 2012

boatboatboat · Sep 18, 2012

the easiest deduction is travel expenses to research and prepare for potential future wagers.

bigbet1234 · Sep 18, 2012

You'd have to file a schedule C and then that opens up a whole new can of worms

boatboatboat said:
the easiest deduction is travel expenses to research and prepare for potential future wagers.

Akillies · Sep 18, 2012

Betallsports said:
When grabbing Losing Tickets, make sure there are no Foot prints on those Tickets.

I'm kind of doing the same thing with my winnings from the Hilton this past year.
Well not really last year, because the Contest ended in Jan 2012

+

Willie99 · Sep 18, 2012

You can deduct gambling losses to the extent of gambling winnings. that means you can deduct $ 35,000 in losses. Based on what you said, it appears you have a nice refund coming even if you didn't deduct loses.

Keep track of tournament entry fees, obtain year end profit / loss statements from all casinos you deal with. Keep all your losing tickets from any other gambling activity. Maybe you can borrow some

(but I can't advise that)

It's always worth hiring a professional to help with filing your return, and learning what other items you may be able to deduct. State income taxes, car taxes and charitable donations for example. Of course, you don't want to hire a person that's too conservative.

In my experience, you'll probably save money and you'll definitely save time.

Fishhead · Sep 18, 2012

bigbet1234 said:
You'd have to file a schedule C and then that opens up a whole new can of worms

*Fishhead has awarded biget1234 1040 RX pts

Fishhead · Sep 18, 2012

Willie99 said:
It's always worth hiring a professional to help with filing your return.

*Fishhead has deducted Willie 10 RX PTS

Willie99 · Sep 18, 2012

awmllc2000 · Sep 18, 2012

Nice job buddy. You will want to use the advice of a professional. Keep all of your tournament buyin losers "dead soldiers" as I like to call them. I keep maticulous buyin records.

shdw01 · Sep 18, 2012

first off.....in order to deduct any gambilng loses you have to itemize your deductions. If you do not itemize then you will have to find quite a bit of losses for it to be more worth the standard deduction.

however, if you do have a mortgage and donations, etc. and you already itemize, then yes, save all of your losses. usually casino's have records as well of how you were tracked on the player's card.

other expenses like airfare, cars, etc. related to gambling can only be deducted if you are a professional gambler. I think the best way to determine that is the obvious. if you are in school i wouldn't try to use it, if you have a full time job i wouldn't try to use it....basically you know if you are a professional so I wouldn't even try to expense other items on a schedule c.

by the way, congrats dude...how much was the buy in and how many were in the tourney?

mnmike · Sep 18, 2012

Keep in mind you only need to have those receipts, etc if you are audited, and that's not real likely. I would think you could claim the win and offset a fair % of it, maybe 20000, with no trouble. that would mean very little tax(relatively) and a huge refund.

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