Question About Filing Winnings in Taxes

zachvac said:

In the US it's pretty cut and dry. If you profit, you HAVE to report it. If you don't and get caught, it's tax evasion, plain and simple.

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Reportable Gambling Winnings

Generally, gambling winnings are reportable if the amount paid reduced, at the option of the payer, by the wager is (a) $600 or more and (b) at least 300 times the amount of the wager. However, these requirements do not apply to winnings from bingo, keno, and slot machines. Gambling winnings for these games are reportable if:

The winnings (reduced by the wager) are $1,500 or more from a keno game,

The winnings (not reduced by the wager) are $1,200 or more from a bingo game or slot machine, or

The winnings (reduced by the wager or buy-in) are more than $5,000 from a poker tournament.


If you pay reportable gambling winnings, you must file Form W-2G with the IRS and provide a statement to the winner (Copies B and C of Form W-2G)

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iMaGiN. said:

$600 at one time or through a course of one year?

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Sk8surf said:

depends what country your in they have diff rules for diff countrys, like im from canada we dont have too claim winnings i mean maybe if they are huge but i dont think o in canada cause i know i go too casino and never put winning in my taxes lol

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iMaGiN. said:

Hey guys, I never really bothered about this but I thought this was actually an important topic. Should I file my Poker Winnings from online rooms, Full Tilt or PokerStars in my Taxes?
Few questions for this are:
1.) Is it illegal to not file it in your taxes?
2.) If it's alright and I won't go to jail if I don't file it, what are the benefits of actually filing it?
3.) Do I only have to file it if I withdrawal over a specific amount?

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ChuckTs said:

Are you filing your winnings Zach? What's the damage like?

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ChuckTs said:

I think unless you're making in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars you don't really have to worry about anyone coming after you.

I'm getting genuinely scared about this, though I realize the laws are different in Canada.

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ChuckTs said:

Yeah that's what I've heard - basically any intent/expectation to make money can mean being taxed. I just don't want them to show up out of nowhere and tell me I owe like 5k or some shit

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Monoxide said:

Don't be.... your would be giving your money away by submitting trust me. Like you said, it wont ring any bells, you arnt cashing out tens of thousands. its canada man, especially if this is your only income? - I dont know if it is - but the govt will be worrying more about the people making $100k++ a year, then a guy cashing a few stars cheques a month worth a few K each.

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feitr said:

Are you in school/have another job, or are you just playing poker now? I'd think you should probably talk to somebody about it if you don't have another source of income/occupation that can account for your time spent. These things tend to be very anal about what you were doing during a given unaccounted for period. If you were at school and playing poker part time i think you'd have alot more room to work with than if you are simply playing poker for a living. If Sept. is anything to use to scope the future (oh how i wish i ran like you) then you could be making serious money making poker, and if this is your only/primary source of income i think you should definitely check it out, as playing poker to what is essentially professionally and not reporting your winnings MUST be tax fraud i would imagine. I'm actually starting to worry somewhat about this, as although i don't really play all that much and have school during the year/job during the summer, i'll probably end up making something like ~$30k/year if i don't take a couple of months off during a year. But again, i don't know what other activities you have going on in your life at all.

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