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2008 Poker Tournament Winnings


TAXBILLY

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>>Why wouldn't poker winnings be treated the same as other gambling winnings? Oh! I guess some politicians are poker players.<<

The article makes clear that this is not a new law designed by politicians, but guidance from the the agency itself. And it gives the reason, too: "Some casinos and players have been confused over whether poker tournament sponsors who hold the money for participants in a poker tournament are required to report the winnings to the IRS and withhold tax on the winnings."

Poker tournament winnings have the same tax treatment as other gambling, except that tournament players are perhaps more likely to claim to be professionals.

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Actually. the rule is that 'prizes' over 600 are reported, slot machine winnings over 1199 are reported, and table games winnings over 5000 are reported. The reason has more to do with the reporting burden on the casinos than anything else. The law says that the taxpayer is to report all his winnings, not just the ones that are reported. But, from a practical point of view, unless you win a significant prize, the odds are very high that your losses exceed your winnings.

The problem with table games is how to keep up with how much each player 'wins', when chips move back and forth, and the players buy their chips, but the casino has no easy way to know, when they are cashed back in, how much was 'bought' by you, and how much was 'won'. The tournaments, however, do have that info available.

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