Category Archives: Gambling

Three Gambling Questions

Posted on January 15, 2009 by Russ

Three interesting questions were recently emailed to me regarding gambling tax issues. Let’s take a look at some of the issues of concern: 1. “I’m planning on playing at an upcoming poker tournament in Los Angeles and heard that if … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on Three Gambling Questions

Two Gambling Cases at the Tax Court

Posted on December 23, 2008 by Russ

The Tax Court looked at two gambling related tax cases today. In the first case the petitioners thought there was discrimination; in the second case the question was whether or not the petitioners were professionals or amateurs. In the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on Two Gambling Cases at the Tax Court

More on the World Series of Poker and Income Tax

Posted on November 13, 2008 by Russ

Earlier this week I posted on the tax bite that the top nine finishers at this year’s main event of the World Series of Poker faced. This year’s winner, Peter Eastgate, hails from Denmark. Assuming he is subject to Danish … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on More on the World Series of Poker and Income Tax

The Real Winners at the World Series of Poker

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Russ

This year’s World Series of Poker concluded early this morning at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The winner of the main event won $9,152,416 but would he actually end up with all that money? This year’s winner … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | 6 Comments

He Gambled…And He Lost

Posted on November 1, 2008 by Russ

Renato Medina used to own Lucky Chances, a Colma, California cardroom (poker club). Colma, which may have more tombstones than people, was the target of a federal corruption investigation. Mr. Medina was found to have been taking personal deductions on … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Tax Evasion | Comments Off on He Gambled…And He Lost

We Get Questions on Gambling Income

Posted on October 12, 2008 by Russ

Over the past few weeks we received a couple of questions. Here they are with answers. Timing of Online Gambling Income Question—What if you are gambling on an online site over the course of a year and you win some … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | 1 Comment

A Very Unlucky Spendthrift Lottery Winner

Posted on August 10, 2008 by Russ

If you are lucky enough to win the lottery definitely plan on paying your taxes. Indeed, you’ll find that the government will be quite helpful in that regard, and that taxes will be withheld from your winnings. Do remember, though, … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, Tax Evasion | Comments Off on A Very Unlucky Spendthrift Lottery Winner

We Get Questions on Gambling and Taxes

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Russ

Question 1. “Good afternoon Russ, “I am a regular [poker] player online and I was wondering the policy in the state of California? Is there a certain amount and above that needs to be reported on your taxes? Since the … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on We Get Questions on Gambling and Taxes

A New York Doctor/Gambler Hits Three Lemons

Posted on June 7, 2008 by Russ

The TaxProf Blog alerted me to an interesting Tax Court case decided earlier this week. Once again the Court looked at whether or not an individual can be a professional gambler when that individual specializes in video poker. In video … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling, New York | Comments Off on A New York Doctor/Gambler Hits Three Lemons

What If You Win the Big One

Posted on March 23, 2008 by Russ

We get mail. Now, I don’t answer all of it, but this weekend I got quite a bit of interesting email. A reader asks, “I caught your appearance on the Ante Up podcast last week, so I thought I’d take … Continue reading →

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on What If You Win the Big One