IRS Has a Plan For Your Poker Tournament Winnings
30 August 06
Confused about the Internal Revenue Service withholding
rules when it comes to poker tournaments? Well, it won’t
be long before tournament players are presented with a government
solution. Popular forums, online chat rooms, and players
at the felt have been debating the Rio’s payout and
tax procedures, as outlined by Harrah’s and the IRS,
at this year’s World Series of Poker.
Different casinos — also considered financial institutions
— have different procedures. But on August 15, the
Department of the Treasury released its 2006-2007 Priority
Guidance Plan. The plan includes a list of 264 tax projects
slated to be complete within the next 12 months. Four final
regulations listed within the tax administration section
include a project on revenue procedures regarding withholding
rules applicable to poker tournaments.
With a dramatic increase in high-buy-in events, record-breaking
attendance, and enormous prize pools, there’s a lot
of money changing hands. Televising tournaments has put
poker in the spotlight, and though all of these factors
have elevated the sport and encouraged growth, it has also
made poker more conspicuous. Simply put, with exposure comes
… well … being exposed, and it was only a matter
of time before the IRS took notice.
This year’s WSOP championship event awarded 876 players,
and the minimum payout was over $10,000. Eighteen players
were paid an amount in the neighborhood of a quarter-million
dollars, 12 made around half a million, three men took home
just shy of a million, and the rest became millionaires,
multimillionaires, or multi-multimillionaires. And that
was only one event of 45 in the series. With dozens of major
tournaments across the country, the IRS could put a dent
in the national debt, and not just with American winnings.
Even non-Americans will find themselves giving up a little
more juice to stay in action. The good news is that the
Treasury’s Priority Guidance Plan could set the groundwork
for other areas within the poker industry, while once and
for all granting the sport some legitimacy.
In either case, poker players won’t have to wait
long for an answer. “While the list usually grows
to keep pace with new IRS or taxpayer concerns, the number
of projects scheduled to receive attention this year is
nothing out of the ordinary in terms of volume,” says
Treasury spokesman Sean Kevelighan.
Read more:http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_news/news_story/1324?class=PokerNews
