So I am just curious. At the end of the 2011 tax year I made money on Full Tilt Poker, but since they have not paid me any of the money I do not have to pay taxes on those winnings correct? At least not yet right?

So then what if two years from now Full Tilt does pay me that money and I report it in that tax year, is there a way to let the IRS know that the money was won in 2011, but I honestly did not know if I would ever get it so that is why I did not report it in 2011?

I hope this makes sense just wondering how taxes will work in the future if Full Tilt Poker ever does pay US players their balances.

Oh and if Full Tilt Poker does not pay at the end of 2011 can I write off my account balance as a deduction against gambling winnings from live play and other poker sites?

2011 isn't over yet.. do you mean last year you made money?

cashing out isn't the point where you earn the income, it's when you actually make it at the table.. you should pay taxes on it at that point, if tilt doesn't pay us back, then you will be able to write it off as as some kind of loss... theft/gambling/investment something.

No I am talking about the money I made in 2011. Since Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars no longer serve the US I know I will have poker profits for 2011. I am just wondering if Full Tilt Poker does not pay US player this year if I still have to pay taxes on my winnings from 2011. Seeing as how US players might never get paid. If we do not get paid I did not win anything right?

That then leads into my last question, If Full Tilt does not pay at the end of this year can I take my whole FTP account balance as a deduction against my other gambling winnings for 2011?

Also I am curious how it will work if lets say Full Tilt does pay Us players in like 2013 or something. Is there a way to officially let the IRS know that the money was made in 2011 but from the information at the time it did not look like I would be able to get it, because it was gone or the company went bankrupt?

I too have been wondering this as the sites become less and less trustworthy after some major problems.

I have a feeling you still have to pay based on sessions. But perhaps there is some sort of theft or loss deduction

Yeah I know we are not alone on this issue and hopefully it is a simple one at that, but if anyone knows the best way to handle this situation, any advice would be much appreciated.

Try this thread:
US Income Tax Issue - Online Poker Income From AP/UB/FT(?)/Etc.

Okay, so this has basically been asked before. But it looks like that thread died and there were no clear cut answers given.

For my own situation if Full Tilt does not pay US players back at the end of the year, then I will be at an overall loss on my gambling for 2011. I am not writing off my full account balance just the amount that I won on Full Tilt in 2011. That is enough to put in way in the red. So when it comes to filing my returns I guess I am going to report my income from work and other investments, but when it comes to additional income from gambling I had none.

I just do not understand how the government would expect me to pay taxes on money for all intense and purposes I never received and given Full Tilt Pokers financial situation, unknown to me a the time, they never had available to pay me with and I saved checks that I got that even bounced from them when they were put into my bank account.

I am a recreational player, I worked in 2011, I am going back to school and made $0 profit from poker since my winnings on one site for 2011 were not even real. I just want to be done with this all and move on with my life, but I do not want to have to pay $3,000 in taxes for gambling winnings that even at the time I won I immediately tried to pull off and got bad checks for.

To be honest the whole reason I care so much is because I am going back to school to get enough credits to sit for the CPA exam. So I actually want to learn this stuff myself and do things right.

Pretty sure the general consensus is that you have to claim the income this year and you can't take the casualty loss until the sites specifically say, "we aren't going to pay you."

Yeah, I am getting that impression as well from clicking on taxdoods links within that thread. Which I just went back and reread. Hopefully everything works out and all players get paid before the end of the year, but either way no sense in worry about it now. It is what it is.

yes you pay based on your sessions from 1/1 to 12/31 and just because it is online it doesn't matter when you "cash out". As far as if you get to claim a loss, he is right you can't claim it until it is realized which is when it is deemed no longer payable. The good news is if you have to file for casualty loss it's only slightly a pain in the a$$ and you won't save in taxes then what you will pay now.

Congratulations winning US player on FTP. Not only are you most likely going to lose your balance, but you will have to pay taxes on your winnings to the government for 2011 regardless. For me this is the final straw, now i am truly angry at FTP haha.

In my case it wont be too much since WSOP kicked my butt. : )

If, on the other hand, the taxpayer expects to be reimbursed in full for the loss in a later year, then the loss (or at least the amount of the loss for which the taxpayer reasonably expects remuneration) should not be deducted in the year the loss is incurred. If the reimbursement is never paid, then the loss must still be claimed in the year that it was incurred by filing an amended return for that year. For example, if a taxpayer's house is destroyed by fire in 2010, and the taxpayer expects to receive the insurance proceeds in 2011, then the taxpayer should not declare a loss on the 2010 return. However, if the insurance company denies the claim in 2011, then the taxpayer must file an amended return for 2010 in order to declare the loss.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/articles...#ixzz1VLvZVJ5z

Casualty losses are probably not deductible for most of us anyway.

Casualty losses are only deductible to the extent that they exceed 10% of Adjusted Gross Income. http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515.html

I expect that an overwhelming majority of affected online poker players had kept online bankrolls of less than 1/10th of what they make in a year, in which case, no deduction at all. Also note that AGI is the figure that (for amateur players) has the sum of your winning sessions but not the sum of your losing sessions deducted, so it makes the threshold for being able to claim a casualty loss even higher.

Has anyone analyzed this new IRS Form for its potential applicability to online poker accounts?

Custodial account?

Nope, because I no longer have any online accounts with real money.