This is incorrect reasoning. Neither of those things are considerations in if you are a professional or not.

The much more relevant piece of information is the 100k hands which I think would be very low for a professional player.

People need to really clarify if they are asking should I legally be claiming my winnings or should I be claiming my winnings as a purely EV question.

The answer to the second is almost always no. Unless you are going to do stuff that makes you very public (run a blog / do newspaper interviews / star in a PokerStars commercial) or you feel the need to pay taxes for moral or patriotic reasons then you shouldn't pay taxes.

If the question is a legal one then we'd need a lot more information to say but the low volume is strong first indicator that you would not be considered a professional unless you scored very high on the other criteria of the test. For example, low volume but with exceptionally well targeted opponents where you studied and found fish in multiple games and drove around BC only playing those fish and only after studying their play would be a professional.

great, thanks henry.

Thanks for answering, Henry. I gather the only other option is to get a ruling? Which costs $500 minimum.

I didn't make enough last year for anyone to consider me a professional, but I hope to in the future.

Crazy news here:

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/mds-propose...040307538.html

Interesting read; thankfully it doesn't affect most poker players.

Anyone who makes over six figures is affected

This is not a change to tax policy just a bunch of not very bright doctors trying to lobby for keeping the prohibition on private medical insurance in place. The Canadian health care system is horrible and not allowing private health care given that is a violation of the Charter. I made this argument 15 years and eventually even the SCC came to the same conclusion. A two-tier health care system is pretty much unavoidable but there are still idiots out there who think we can save socialized medicine. Absolutely nothing will come of this.

So you're not a fan of socialized medicine? I think the Ontario health premium is actually pretty fair/cheap.

The health premium is not the only income tax that does to health care. The was added a few years back to supplement the funding.

The issue isn't even the cost so much as the quality. Canada has sub-par health care and we are fine with that as a nation because what matters is that everyone gets the same ****ty health care.

Oh I actually agree.

All of the doctors I've seen in Canada have been subpar to the extreme, most are incredibly corrupt and are prone to harassment by others.(as in they'll give me worse healthcare when a Canadian wacko harasser gets them)

Our healthcare system is great as long as you're perfectly healthy or on deaths door, it sucks for anything in between

Prescriptions are ridiculous. I pay $500 a month just for being diabetic!

Hi, when is the US going to allow for online poker? I'm thinking of moving over... lower income taxes, lower capital tax gains, etc

WOW... according to the net, the entirety of the USA has not banned online poker, it's just some states...

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_can_yo...oker_in_the_US

My understanding is that online poker is not banned in the United States -- except for the States that have state level bans. What is illegal in the United States is for any financial institution to assist in the processing of financial transactions from offshore gambling

EXACTLY

Do I have to pay taxes to Canada if I don't live there most of the time? 7-8 months out of 12?

For the 20th time no. Income tax in Canada is based on residency. If you don't maintain the conditions required for residency then you don't pay taxes. For those conditions look to the previous 19 times this was discussed.

Okay no, you need to say these things in details.

If you own a car or a house in Canada, then you are a resident of Canada and will then have to pay world taxes anyways. It's called deemed residency.

If you were to claim winnings on the tax form, would they be classified as self-employed income, or capital gains? Obvious benefit with capital gains since you can cut your income in half. Does CPP still factor in to capital gains?

I don't know about the people on death's door really. I've heard lots of stories about people dying in hospital halls waiting for surgery. Just to get an MRI on my shoulder was a 6 month waiting list.

In Quebec it's particularly terrible for the "middle" stuff. You basically have to wait 10-12 hours just to see a doctor and then he/she just processes you as quickly as possible. There are more alternatives in the private sector but it's quite expensive. Just to open an account is a $250 cost.

It would be business or professional activities on form T2125.

As an individual who plays poker you can not claim poker winnings as capital gains.

Technically a non-resident would have to pay tax on income earned from a Canadian source (unless there are taxs treaty exceptions).

Online play does not qualify for this though.

If I purchase a car from the states and wire a good sized amount of money to the dealership is this going to get flagged anywhere along the line and raise the risk of audit hassles? Like when i pay the taxes crossing the border or what not? Or just the transfer in general. We are talking about 35-40k ish

Hey, sorry to not read through 24 pages of epically long stuff, just going to ask my question

1) I have two residences, one in canada and one in the USA. I play poker (all online) when I'm at my canadian residence, but I ship all my winnings back to the USA and pay USA taxes.

Am I going to need to worry about paying Canadian taxes in addition? (amounts in the 5 figures).

Andrew