Understood, and I am not arguing that I shouldn't pay taxes on my winnings. I am arguing that the tracking of all of the sessions and such seems unnecessary until the money hits my PayPal. So my plan is to look at the last year, total up the amount that I got in PayPal (I don't have any purchases on Global so no deductions from that amount) and then claim it as miscellaneous income, just like I would do any sweepstakes winnings I got this year. In no way am I saying, "Don't pay taxes", I am more pointing to the how we categorize them and claim them.

And I hear you on the auditing, but I am also curious how the IRS would even know what my history looks like on Global to go the more convoluted route. I can't even get that history MYSELF. So my guess is all they would look at is PayPal. Now they might look at the amount that came into PayPal and say, "Nope, those are not sweepstakes winnings, those are gambling winnings and we don't tax them the same way, pay the difference." And then we could pursue that path. But tracking every cash session on Global... yeah I just don't see that as a practical or feasible option.

And again, not a tax professional. Just an honest citizen willing to pay his fair (unfair?) share of taxes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realization_(tax)

I seriously doubt anything bad will happen if you just report winnings as you cash out. But your legal argument isn't really going to carry any weight with the IRS. They want you to keep track of each session. You should read "Tax Help for Gamblers" by Chien and Scott.

If it's a sweepstakes, that might actually be worse tax-wise. They may not let you deduct losses sustained one day from a win sustained the next. But I'm pretty sure this "sweepstakes model" of online gambling has never been adjudicated.

QL

Yep, this is the part I am very interested in and I agree, the sweepstakes model might actually be much worse for the reasons you have stated. I can't deduct my purchase of McDonald's meals and say, "It was for sweepstakes entry". I have wondered this idea from the get go, and as I have said, I haven't bought any gold coins so no worries for me. But for others especially those who bought and went broke, I don't think they will be able to take those loses as gambling losses.

And I agree, ultimately it would be a court that would need to decide, but whether people want to see it this way or not, Global exists because it is a sweepstakes. That likely has different implications than if Pokerstars came back to the US under regulation.

I don't think the link I posted above worked. Splayaa, I really don't think you should be giving tax advise based on wild speculation. Taxable income needs to be reported in the period it is realized not earned. If you get park place and boardwalk in 2014 then this is the reporting period you need to report that 1 mill as taxable income. I am pretty sure mcydees has to abide by federal regulations and report if that grand prize was won.You don't think the feds know about McDonald's??? I don't think you are giving the IRS enough credit. To sum up what a previous poster said. I am not really into ass play, but I def don't want the IRS dick in my ass especially for 200g plus i would owe for a mil grand prize

I think that a point Splayaa is making is that the Park Place token has no value until it's redeemed. There's no "income" to report yet.

First off, not giving tax advice. I think I have made that pretty clear, not a professional tax accountant or attorney of any kind, as is no one in this thread. Just stating what seems reasonable to me, and trying to understand it better myself. Its more of a thinking out loud thing.

Secondly, McDonalds does NOT know the prize has been awarded until it is turned in. They DO know (likely) that the two winning game pieces have been issued out but:

They don't know if someone has both of them. Perhaps you got the rare game piece, but you can't seem to land the common one. Maybe you threw the cup away that had the piece you needed, or you kids peeled it off and ran away with it. Maybe the cup hit the ground and never was issued to a customer in the first place. And many other examples that don't need mentioned as to why pieces could be issued and not redeemed.

Which leads to the argument I am making. Until those pieces are redeemed, they don't equal USD (again, in my opinion). And that is how I see $weeps Cash as well. $weeps cash does not equal USD. It equals potential USD, but it doesn't equal the same thing.

Perhaps an example will help. Let's say you are running up your balance from the $2 Global gives you. Is that income? Is that $2 income? What about if you have $45 in your account? Is that income? Is that $45 income? Some of the arguements I see above say "Yep, sure is." Really? Go ahead and try to get your $45 you ran up redeemed for USD. Global will say no. But if I have $45 in Paypal and want that in cash, you can make that happen. Because what is on PayPal is currency, is USD, is taxable.

I can already hear people saying, "But we don't tax just USD." Agreed. But point out to me how many sweepstakes game pieces are taxable?

You don't win the $1 million from McD's by collecting boardwalk and park place. You win the prize when you collect them, attach them to a game board, submit that to McD's and they verify everything is on the up and up. (you don't work at McDonald's or have an inside guy that collects game pieces for you). Once this process all takes place, then I think for sure you could argue that is now income, and if that process all happens on Dec. 31, but you don't cash the check until Jan 3rd, my guess is that million shows as income on the Dec. 31st year.

To beat this horse more, write into to Global and get the free $6, now try to pull it out. Not gonna happen. Even if you cash out for over the $50 amount. If it includes that $6, Global says you need to play it through. If you buy Gold Coins, and get $weeps Cash, you have to play that through as well. If I drop $100 on to PayPal, and an hour later, take it off, PayPal allows it. Because it is actually USD.

$weeps Cash are sweepstakes game tokens, and in my opinion, game tokens are not counted as income on US taxes. What is absolutely counted as income is when I redeem those game tokens for currency.

EDIT: Is anyone else really wanting those fries? I need to find a new example, this McDonald's talk is not helping my waistline. What is in them?

Anyone know about tax rates in Bosnia?

No, not even Bosnians know.

My neighbor looks like a duck, smells like a duck and even quacks like a duck. but he aint no dam duck....lol.
had to do it lol

548 market street btw.
There's a sign to send mail next door.

Good morning to everyone on this blog.
I read all the threads here and everything makes sense on both sides especially when you do more digging.. by no means is it clear to me on either side what’s hard is what’s easier to hear what you want to hear “convenient“ ... what’s convenient for me would be if “$weepscash” was not taxable until converted.
There’s something that sticks out in my mind and it’s on their website under "sweep rules" scroll down to number seven “ to be eligible for cash out: (a) participant must be a resident of either the United States or Canada and must not reside in the province of Quebec”
Which I was told by them in email they can purchase but they cannot cash which led me to my next question when is it taxable “ when does it become taxable “ they replied “ sweepstake winnings(when you cash out) May be taxable in the jurisdiction in which you are a tax resident. That was like pulling teeth.. my very first inquiry They said ”We do not provide various tax forms to our US players nor Report winnings to the IRS as we are not in a gambling Business but we are in a gaming industry” and yes this is word for word.. this is the kicker sentence when you back them in a corner. "Our best advice is for you to seek guidance from your Financial advisor".. like everyone has one Bull----.
I did look up the irs definition of sweepstakes
“a sweepstakes is a legal contest or game where anything of value is distributed by lot or chance. Federal legislation and state laws govern sweepstakes” so I looked up Florida definition
“Game promotion means, but is not limited to, a contest, Game of chance, sweepstakes, or gift enterprise, conducted by an operating within or throughout the state And states in connection with and incidental to the sale of consumer products or services, and in which the elements of chance and Prize are present”
Last thoughts because this is running long i’m still pretty confused and I wish I was smarter to figure it out. I hope this sheds a little light to someone here and/or beyond.
Please feel free to write and critique me i'll learn more lol

If someone were to just report their taxes based on their deposits/withdrawals and not keep records of individual sessions, what could the IRS even do about it? Would they say "well you don't have the correct records showing you made x, we're going to say you made y." Isn't the burden of proof on them and if so how would they prove it? I see no benefit to extra record keeping just for the sake of the IRS if there's nothing they can do about it.

This sounds like a great strategy... right up until you get audited. Then you might have a new outlook.

Some people we’re talking about writing the detailed information about their gameplay and how to go about doing it.. this really affected me since I’m not that quick with notetaking. This will help me tremendously and I hope you as well. The skill set you’ll have to have is using XL spreadsheet which you can find videos on YouTube to learn.
First log into your account on global poker >and then click Play poker> click on profile icon or your avatar> click on hand history ( now you will see three boxes (The day, hours and minutes in military time)
After you selected your desired information I like to scroll down to the beginning of the session left click and pull up highlighting everything you want, right click copy and pasted into spreadsheet this is where you need the know how in spreadsheet.
Right underneath hand history is transaction history

Everything is dated and timed
I truly hope this helps a lot of people

You missed the point of my post, or you just didn't care to answer my question. I want to know what the benefit of this record keeping is. What would happen in the event that I don't have it in an audit? What can the IRS do about it if they don't like the way I prefer to keep my records?

I've been through this firsthand with the IRS. They will assume 100% gain of everything and send you a bill for it. You will then show paperwork to support your side and almost always offer them something they did not know prior prompting an audit or investigation. I had the investigation aspect. It's not very fun

They may assess estimated earnings (which may well be higher than your true winnings) as well as penalties and interest. The burden of proof is on you to dispute their assessment, which you can not do if you don't have records.

Whether or not they "like the way you prefer to keep your records", I would think having something in the way of records that substantiates what you're claiming on your returns is better than having nothing at all.

Your answers make sense, thanks.

I left a link on how to pay for sweeps cash for taxes. I don't know where its at on here or removed but it was a article that explains what your supposed to do. If i can' find it I will repost it on here. It explains the rules with sweeps cash specifically. You can try googling it too. I think i found it. Not sure if i am allowed to provide links but this is not advertisement just explanation of sweeps cash tax filing. https://finance.zacks.com/much-state...ings-6171.html

FWIW this is club wpt's rules regarding their sweepstakes taxes

"If you have won $600 or more in any given calendar year, Federal Tax Regulations requires that you complete and return form W9 and that we issue you a form 1099 at the end of each calendar year. You can find a fill-able copy here. If you prefer, you can fill this out at any time to avoid future delay. You will only be issued a form 1099 if you met or exceed the Federal Tax requirement. Please note that you are NOT required to submit a W-9 form unless your cumulative annual winnings are $600 or more."

ALSO

"Now ClubWPT is not a gambling site, but it is real poker. ClubWPT operates within the sweepstakes rules where they are legal and excludes people from participation in its sweepstakes games who live in areas where they are not. To better grasp the concept, think of network television shows or other promotions that offer sweepstakes and you get the idea."



ClubWPT offers $100,000 in cash and prizes every month to eligible members. No purchase necessary to win. ClubWPT operates within the sweepstakes rules where they are legal and excludes people from joining who live in those states or territories where they are not. See Terms & Conditions for details and eligibility.

As someone who has played for a year and is ready to cash out a little, but did not keep records of my sessions what can I do? Thanks in advance.

If you don't record your sessions then I'm going to assume you have profited very little. Just report accurately and in the low chance you are audited have your deposit/withdrawal/balance as support I guess.

I just use excel to keep track of my sessions every day. And I write down all the poker sites i play on including the br i have on it how much i won or loss going into the next day and at the end of every month i add in taxes, expenses etc to go with my winnings. You can write off a portion of your house if you have mortgage or pay rent. YOu have to measure out the square footage of the room you play in and you can write off that portion so if its 10% of the house you can take off 10% as tax write off. And any expensies you put in for poker softwrae, chair etc you can write off. But don't get carried away and try to add in gas, food etc if your playing at home you will get an audit if you write off to much stuff. I seen people try to get carried away with writing off to much stuff and they end up getting an audit and fine. Its not worth it trust me on that.