Regarding drug dealers in Canada, the RCMP have experts who assess criminals and determine whether it's possible for them to live the lifestyle they have. Their reports include such things as the estimated value of your wardrobe, jewelry, furniture, art, vehicles etc. They even determine whether the designer clothes are real or fake, the latest retail value of those etc. Large amounts of cash on hand or large cash purchases on vehicles for example would definitely sink a drug dealer. However, Mercedes as far as I understand does not report large cash purchases to the RCMP (unless new laws have been made since I last heard this).

So, in terms of living an unaffordable lifestyle and calling people poker players, it's an area that I don't think would be too difficult for them to convict people. If someone can prove this is wrong, please do so with some citations and not anecdotes. While I'm not 100% sure I'm correct, don't claim I'm wrong based on your own anecdotes.

My information comes from a tax attorney that I worked with several years ago to determine my best course of action.

As far as the RCMP determining lifestyle based income assumptions, this is different than the CRA. I was only talking about the CRA. Without the help of the RCMP the CRA would have a difficult time estimating an income figure for such persons. But this would be easier for a poker player that have more paper trails and does not have to hide things. Ofcourse each person and case is different.

Lastly, yes having records on one hand might be detrimental in the terms that the cra could now say that you are organized in a professional manner, but at the same time many recreational players also keep records. Without records, with certainty, I can say that if you can not prove the source of your income the cra will assign it taxable. The onus is always on the person to prove this money was a windfall etc. If you have proof you won a big tournament then you are correct that it should be considered a windfall.

I'm not an expert nor do I claim to be so someone else here can answer your questions to your satisfaction and maybe give you a better response.

In court, a good lawyer will just talk in a roundabout way and easily justify the cash. If I win 100k, keep it in cash, and 5 years later the government tries to get me to prove where I got it, how strong do you think their case will be?

Also, this past year I've spoken with 2 different tax attorneys, and even they admitted it's a very grey area, albeit one that they don't expect will ever get taxed.

Encouraged by this thread I'm considering becoming a resident of Canada again after 5-10 years of degen nomading around the globe and probably qualifying as a "non-resident" for that time. Non-residents do not need to pay taxes to the CRA

Recently I've wanted to lay some roots and make some investments and would like to do that in Canada. I still play poker and plan to do so for many years to come. If I do plan to live in Canada full time again, what is the best way to manage my investments?

ie Henry suggested a few pages back that owning a home may not be the best idea since in the worst case scenario it's an asset that cannot be hidden and can be taken

What about index funds etc? Where should I put these as a poker player who wants to cover my ass should the worst case scenario happen?

How about day to day spending, is it okay to just go nuts with canadian bank use or should I try to use other less visible methods of spending (foreign banks, BTC, cash, Skrill Card, etc.)?

Not going to speak to the rest of your post, but if you live well below your means, it may be tax-optimal to own your house through a corporation, which is taxed at a lower rate. An accountant can elaborate.

I paid taxes for my poker winnings for the year 2011 (declared about 20k), have since lived in Asia, asked for non-residency but was turned down because I do not pay taxes in the Philippines. They have since been asking me to declare my taxes for 2012-14. How do you think me declaring 0$ income would pan out?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Couple things from this post stand out as weird:

1) do we even necessarily have to "ask for non-residency"? isn't their just a list of conditions that need to be met for one to automatically be a non-resident?

2) among those conditions, paying tax in another country did not appear to be an explicit condition that would by itself make or break a non-resident qualification

I'm speculating based on my own interpretation of the rules based on: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/nnrsdnts...sdncy-eng.html

Would appreciate if someone with a more concrete understanding of the rules to enlighten us.

As far as non-residency goes, you do not the best of both worlds, apparently... Meaning that despite losing some benefits of being a Canadian citizen, my non-residency down was turned down for tax reasons indeed. EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT SPEND MORE THAN 3 MONTHS IN CANADA A YEAR AND HAVE SINCE LOST MY LICENSE TO DRIVE, THEY HAVE DETERMINED THAT I MUST STILL PAY CANADIAN TAXES AS A POKER PLAYER. They obviously have linked my residency status with the nature of my work in order to come to a decision. This said, they are still reviewing my residency status, as I have since provided additional info.

Back to my question : if I am ultimately declared a resident and DO have to declare my poker income, how should I do so in my tax forms, assuming I consider these non-taxable?

another question regarding non-residency:

How will being a non-resident effect my ability to receive Canadian pension later on in life?

Are there anyone that actually file tax for poker? I'm new to online poker, and only have played online poker for a year now and need to know if I need to file tax for poker.

If anyone have ever filed tax for poker how much tax do you pay as a poker player?

U.S. Income Taxes re:Poker [twoplustwo.com]

Income Taxes re: Poker - ROW [twoplustwo.com]

Hey guys

I've read through this thread a bit, but I didn't find anything specifically addressing my situation, so I thought I'd just ask directly. First some info:

1) I'm a Canadian citizen with Permanent Resident status in the US. Born in Canada. Lived in the US since I was 13. I'm 30 now.

2) For the past 10 years, my sole income has been poker winnings.

3) I've paid income tax on those winnings to the IRS every year.

I want to move back to Canada and play online poker as my only source of income. Some questions:

1) Do I have to pay taxes to the CRA on my poker winnings?

2) Does the fact that I filed as a professional in the US for many years affect whether or not I have to file with the CRA?

3) If I do have to file with the CRA, are there any good resources on how to do that?

Thanks for any help guys!

"1) Do I have to pay taxes to the CRA on my poker winnings?

2) Does the fact that I filed as a professional in the US for many years affect whether or not I have to file with the CRA?

3) If I do have to file with the CRA, are there any good resources on how to do that?"

no, no, no. Go back in this thread to Sep 2013 and read from there

@ brizzy: take seriously the advice of the response above... and especially pay attention to WHO that response came from!!

I don't play online, but I don't know where to post this.

I'm a Canadian citizen travelling back and forth from Las Vegas strictly grinding daily tourney's. This has been my main source of income.

Before yesterday, I was never bothered at either Canadian or US borders. Tell them I'm there to play poker, and they've never asked further. If I had more than 10k at the Canadian border, I show them receipts and they let me go.

Yesterday I crossed the border for a vacation, non-Vegas related. Border guard asked me if I'm employed, I sheepishly tell him I'm unemployed. He asks "what assurances can you give me that you're not going to work in the US." I told him Trump is about to be your president. He smirks and lets me go.

I've always been paid in casino chips, and never had 30% withheld.

Is it okay to tell the border guard that I am a Canadian playing poker in the US for a living? and if so, do I have to file any taxes in the US?

I think that I would be careful about describing yourself as anything more than an enthusiastic hobbyist.

That sounds fair.

If ask me what I do for employment again, what should I tell them?

This is how I've been supporting myself for over a year now.

Honesty at the correct level of generality is the best approach. It sounds like that is what has been working for you so far.

Also, remember that tax and immigration are separate administrations. The IRS is concerned with you paying what you owe in taxes. The INS is concerned with you going home on schedule. These are quite separate concerns. I suspect that there is information sharing only in rather unusual circumstances.

1) No you don't, the federal court ruled on this on a few occasion and the CRA lost on every counts.
2) It doesn't matter if you're a recreational or professional player.

How exactly do taxes get recorded in Canada, can I claim I won 30k but won 90k? Hypothetically of course.

Hey guys,

Just found this thread recently and not sure what I should do about my tax situation.

Been playing full time online since 2012 and paid taxes for a 15k income for poker in 2012,2013,2014 to basically keep CRA off my case. Since having a 40k live score in Canada and talking to other players about filling for 2015 and 2016 I am unclear what I should be filling for these years.

Couple friends/players mentioned this thread and that I should be filling for $0 for 2015/2016 and also that I should be trying to get a refund for the previous years.

Anyone have suggestions for me? Or know of any good tax professionals I can go to that would be knowledgeable in this area? Not sure if I can just go to any old h&r block for something like this.

Thanks a ton!

Yeah, according to my understanding and a few other people that have since filed in for a refund, you should be declaring the minimum (north of 10k), thus effectively paying 0$. Sunronkai in Vancouver is who I dealt with (Sunronkai.com).

Perfect thanks!

Poker specialized accountant recommendations in Montreal?

For all of those interested in this topic, you should know that Tax Foresight, built by Blue J Legal (the AI court case prediction startup), will soon be releasing a new module on its platform that can predict whether a court would find gambling winnings to be taxable.

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/pr...foresight.html

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/inno...tax-foresight/

http://www.macleans.ca/economy/busin...s-uber-moment/

If your tax accountant or lawyer is a subscriber to Tax Foresight, they will soon be able to run your situation through the software and see if you're likely to be found taxable or not if taken to court.