When an action is actually illegal, but the only enforcement agency lacks either the ability or the will to enforce that provision of law, it doesn't make the act legal. There will simply be no consequences to the perpetrator as a result of the illegal act.

My wife and I got married this summer. This year for school she applied for OSAP and they needed spousal income information. I had some taxable earnings that I put down, but also won mid 5 figures from poker that I did not declare on my tax return. They want to know both 2016 total gross income received in Canada, as well as 2016 non-taxable income. My accountants initially thought that I should not put the poker winnings down, but they called both OSAP as well as the school's financial office. OSAP was unsure, but the financial office told them that I should put this information down. Does anyone have any experience or advice regarding my situation? If I should put this information down, they also want proof/required documentation. The only thing that I have would be emails from the poker site showing wd information.

Totally defensible to take the position that it is not "income from a source," and therefore not "income" for the purposes of a government student loan program. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....act_id=1971415

That's great, thank you for your quick response.

One more thing. In this instance we already submitted the application, the sheet we are filling it is just a verification of that income to make sure the numbers are right etc. Would it be unreasonable to go back and say no non taxable income or would that raise too many red flags?

If an individual made $8k/year at his part-time job while grinding live cash casually for 4-5 days a week for around $35-40k, what is the tax stance?

Also, if the poker winnings are "tax-free" and only the $8k is taxable, and the company has already deducted the taxes, is it wiser to not file a return at all for such a small amount if one is willing to forego the refunds, rent and gst credits, etc.?

Assuming that filing for such a small amount would call for unnecessary attention.

According to Tax Foresight (and making some assumptions about facts you don't mention, so it's impossible for this to be construed as legal advice), there is about an 80% probability that a Canadian court would find these winnings to not be taxable income.

P.S. You would be better off filing to get the benefit of having the assessment period clock ticking and also to secure the TFSA room.

Seems like poker can officially be a game of skill for some people in Canada.

Any news on poker taxes in Ontario in 2018?

You don't have to file to secure TFSA room.

Do you guys have any suggestions as to how I can prove to the CRA that money I currently have invested was originally won on Full Tilt playing tournaments?

Pokerstars says that my Full Tilt account information has been fully erased (as per GDPR) and that there is no information they can provide.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Not sure if this is helpful, but a lawyer that was recommended in this thread advised me to keep Holdem Manager data and screenshots of my withdrawals from poker sites, in case the CRA comes calling.

Are you able to access records of how you moved money around? If you were receiving checks or wire transfers, your bank might be able to provide records of those.

If you don't mind me asking, did the CRA come calling?

Thanks for your reply, ShaunHunting. The CRA did not come calling. I'm working on submitting a Voluntary Disclosure to reveal the fact that I had (mistakenly) failed to fill out an 1135 form last year, and I'm asking in anticipation of questions concerning the provenance of funds.

Hi PokerXanadu, not sure if you will see this old thread but i hope. I got a deep ITM in a tournament in Vegas in December 2018. The tax was around 8k USD. I have learned that i cannot carry over gambling losses from the previous year, but how about losses from the following year? Or even that same year (few days later?) What is the max length that i can claim towards getting this 8k back? I went back to Vegas in May 2019, could i use any of these losses? Thanks so much. Also sorry to ask but i know i don't have 8k worth of losses to prove, maybe only 2-3k , if i claim the full amount and get audited, could i prove it partially and the rest isn't "recorded" ? And just give them back the money that i cannot prove? I would have receipts for the 3 or 4k. Thanks so much!

You can't carry forward or backward the losses. You can claim same year losses:

You can report as much in losses as you actually had, up to the total of your winnings. If you are audited, the IRS will look for documentation for everything you lost and will disallow whatever isn't documented. The main type of documentation they look for is a contemporaneous diary of your poker sessions. They may also investigate why you are only reporting poker wins and losses for a single year, as well as why you aren't reporting any other winning sessions than the single instance of the tournament that was reported on a W-2G. But that is mostly of concern for a US Citizen. As a Canadian, you would report just your U.S. winnings and losses.

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips...axes/L4lQ3IAWt

So I've been unemployed for 2 years now, been living off my savings.
I've had absolutely no income this entire year.
Also aware than any incoming/outgoing EFT/Wire over $10k in Canada, is reported to the revenue Canada.

My question, is if I were to win, say, $20k in an online MTT, is this taxable income in my case? I do not play professionally, haven't even withdrawn a single dollar this entire year from any poker site, but I also do not have an income. Would this win be considered taxable income, due to it being my only income for the year? Or does the 'if gambling is conducted like a business' statement from revenue Canada apply, and I don't get taxed because I'm not a pro?

I’m confused about the taxation of my poker income. I’ve been unemployed since May 2019, and have made 30k through live poker since then.

Do I need to file taxes for my poker winnings?

The majority of my poker income is not in the bank. If I deposit 15k, will the CRA hound me with questions?

Neither of you need to claim your winnings as income when you file. You do need to keep records to prove you won the money playing poker.

Is there a reasoning for "if it's you're primary income" line? Like if you have 2 jobs, the one that pays more is taxable, and the other not? Hardly. Is it really income according to the courts? Is all income taxed, like you win the lottery, not taxed, because it's not income or some other reason?

What if you're on pension making 50K/yr and win 51K in slots, you have to pay tax but not if you win 49K?

https://www.gettaxnetpro.com/blog/Bi...al-review-566/
--re Radonjic v. CRA

Poker players hear the word, "system" and we think, oh, some fool believes in gamblers fallacy, like a gambling system but CRA must be talking about a business system where a service is provided and some of the revenue comes from having a mathematical edge in gambling games, no?

If it's taxable can/should a poker player start a small business or incorporate?

I am very curious to where the CRA latest audits will lead to :

https://www.maplecasino.ca/news/cra-...XNCbMQp92XwoME

Cliffs : - The CRA is looking into the fiscal years of 2014-16 of a dozen poker players, demanding taxes to be paid.
- The CRA is requiring documents of online transactions (PartyPoker and Pokerstars) from these players since 2017. They refuse to submit them by counselling from the lawyers.
- No verdict from any judges have yet to grant the CRA permission to require these documents.
- At least half of these players are from Quebec.

Anybody have any inside information/insight on the latter???

man if I were them I would just cooperate with the CRA and send them the records.

If poutine has been unemployed throughout the year, and ended up making 30k playing live poker at the casino, you are saying he doesn’t need to claim his winnings as income? Wouldn’t filing “zero” income attract scrutiny?

This is very interesting. As a Canadian Citizen I always thought that gambling winnings would be tax free. I only play recreationally in spare time, play Live mostly. Now if I were to keep records and also expenses against what it cost me to drive to the casino, or a home office if I'm playing online, would I be able to claim back these losses and expenses against earnings? Hell I might even be slightly down for the year if I tracked it, would I be able to claim a loss and get tax back? Never even though of this before now. Should look into it further.

Lots of people file no income, filing no income imo will attract no scrutiny.