Go to http://www.taxwiki.ca and do a search for "taxation of poker winnings"

lol I read the whole thing and it basically said that online poker was untaxable

lol if that's the case then im not going to pay taxes then

ill just wait until im notified by the CRA to pay taxes

Okay I just went to pokereh.com and there was an article stating that if poker was my main profession that I need to pay taxes. So i guess that is that

I got two Aces. Nothing is better than that. So I go all in. I guess that is that.

ha ha i get it

i was blocked from netfiling my taxes and told to send a paper return. So I called the CRA to confirm the problem and they said there is no error on Netfile and their internal files indicate that I have to fill up a paper return. The phone operator was as baffled as I am. Anyone know why this could be the case? I've been declaring poker earnings as part of my income for the past 3 years fwiw.

That means you have a history of filing with line items that they want to
review and see receipts for, such as self employment income, business losses, large medical expenses, 100 dependants.

Doesn't mean they are after you - you just have something they don't see very often or carries a high risk of creative accounting.

Hi TorontoCFE, thank you for sharing your knowledge on this issue.
A while ago I read a post by you that i can't find now. If I understood it correctly it said that one method of not being considered a poker pro by the CRA, is to file a tax return as a poker pro while you are making small amounts, so that you are rejected and therefore can't be taxed as such.

I am a student, and only made ~$2000 last year from online poker. This year my profits have improved a lot, and I will probably make 5 figures. If I file my current tax return as a poker pro, will they reject me and prevent me from claiming i am a poker pro in the future? Also does me being a student, prevent me from doing this?

Here is an Ebook I found on Poker Winnings in Canada:

http://www.taxwiki.ca/file/view/taxwiki_ebook_1.pdf

Written by a UofT prof, looks very useful, if only i had the time to read it.

After skimming this ebook (especially the 6 points of a player that they would most likely tax on pgs 31-32) it seems very unlikely that we will be taxed, especially if we have an alternative occupation.

Also how would they find out that we use poker software, or practice table selection? Can't we just delete it when we find out we are being audited?

They find out by asking you, and you can lie just like in any situation.

Don't even start worrying about taxes till you get to 6 figures especially
if you are a student.

Not recommended to lie; honesty is the best policy.

Doesn't your bank ask you whether you've paid taxes on the incoming money?

Bank doesn't have any obligation for checking on your tax status, only making sure it is not from illegal sources as best they can.

In my last post, my point was there is nothing stopping you from
being dishonest just like you can be dishonest in any part of life.
Dangerous road to go down though.

Unless you are answering the question, does my but look big in these pants; then it's the safest road to go down :P

Hey Guys, I graduated from University in 2006, and have been living off poker winnings since (no other jobs). I've pulled about $18,000/yr into the country (I live pretty light). I've never filed a tax return. At this point, what should I do? Do i file 0 income for 2006-present? Do I declare the winnings as gambling winnings and pay no taxes? Do I just start filing for this year? Do I bother with paying taxes considering how little I bring in?

Sorry to grunch, but it's such a complex subject, I was hoping someone could give me some solid advice and save me days of research. I try to give a lot of value in SSNL, hope someone is willing to return the favor.

There is no such think as declaring gambling winnings. You either choose to declare your winnings as income or not.

What you should do is really a complex question that requires knowing a lot more about your situation and your future plans. The correct answer could be don't file at all, file with zero income, or claim your winnings. If I had to guess I'd say the middle one is the most likely to be the correct choice but it really requires knowing way more about you to be sure.

Okay, thanks for the response man. Do you know good tax guy I could talk to to get some more concrete answers? I live in the Toronto area.

Another option some do on these boards is file their winnings as untaxable income, and i'm talking about guys that have made millions. but yeah, talk to an expert.

There is no such thing as untaxable income.

They say they do it that way, I can't imagine they just made it up from thin air. I would imagine its along the same lines as claiming a lotto 6/49 win, there has to be some way to claim that money without paying taxes on it if nothing but to show revenue Canada that your new found wealth actually came from a legit source.

You don't claim a Lotto 6/49 win. You do nothing with it.

The only time you would ever need to mention a 6/49 win to CRA is if they do a quality of life assessment and want you to justify how you live a baller life and have a few million is net worth on an income that can't support it.

Hello I have a question, so say someone plays poker as a hobby but does make an amount of cash. Does he have to declare this amount? Say he has another job makes around 50-60k, and he wins 10k playing poker/year. Is there any need to declare this amount? And what if he improves his game and starts making say 20k.

Ive made 200k so far this year, I have not had to report it, and I will not. There is no tax on poker winnings and its a super gray area if you should pay taxes if poker is your full time job. This clearly is not your friends full time job, so he shouldnt even have to put it under income. I put down I make some random low number like 15.5k-18.5k per year and i live on a lakefront property rofl, i actually get money back because im "poor". Its just fantastic I wouldnt worry about it our system is somewhat of a joke.

Wrong.