juliebrown[at]yahoo.com (julie) wrote:

- quote -

Roger and Yolanda Roche, who run R.B.S. Tax Services in
Las Vegas, Nevada ("R.B.S. is better than their BS"),
claim to be the experts in this field of taxation.
See http://www.rbstaxes.com/

If he's a bona fide professional gambler, his travel
expenses are indeed Schedule C business expenses, and
his net is subject to SE tax. IRS has had to honor
professional gambling as a "trade or business" since
Groetzinger v. Commissioner (1987) but often challenges
pro gambler status. His evidence that he gambled
(discount the "not really gambling") with regularity
and continuity and in expectation of making a profit,
as well as the usual detailed records expected of a
gambler, should be up to scratch.

With the current fad for high-stakes poker, we may be
seeing a lot more gambling loss deductions and wannabe
professional gamblers.

--
My only qualification in this area is my cousin Howard
was a professional gambler,

Chris Green

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D. Stussy wrote:
- quote -

Uh... "reportable" ? or "reported"? There's a difference
in the final analysis I think.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford

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julie wrote:

- quote -

If that's all he won, he probably doesn't qualify for
Schedule C treatment.

Now, I once saw the audit file of a professional gambler -
who had about 600 W-2G's issued to her, totalling over $2M
gross. That's seems to be quite different from what you
describe.... [Also note that was just the reportable
winnings....]

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I have had this client for 14 years. He is great. He shows
up in February and has records with supporting reciepts and
logs. He always has 'gambling' winnings. Until this year,
winnings have been between $600 and $2000. For 2003, they
are $46K plus. As usual all of the winnings are from
playing poker. Never before has he wanted to deduct
expenses. Now he has $11,000 in documented expenses related
to two poker tournaments where he won over $25K and two
trips on which he won another $12K.

When I asked why he had such a huge jump in income from
gambling, he gave me two reasons: his wife left him and the
way he plays it is not really gambling.

I have no problem filing a Schedule C for him. What I do
not want is an audit. Audits to me are a waste of time.
Auditors are never prepared. Has anybody here ever had to
deal with a gambler filing a Schedule C and, if so how did
you handle it?

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