Originally Posted by
Rob.Singer
Alan, what does it take for you to comprehend this? Here's an example year where I filed as a professional gambler.
Let's say my net winnings directly from the machines was $95,000. I think you're aware that schedule C deductions for business are directly deducted from business income. I rented a car 24/7, 365 for almost the entire 10 years. Because I was also a gaming author, writer, and I trained and advised players mostly in Nv. but also in Phx. and around the country, virtually every living expense I had--house, gas, rental cars, insurances, food (including some groceries) etc. were directly deductible.
I went on vacations with my wife. We went out for dinner many times in Az. We had VP players over for BBQ's, swimming, and of course, VP discussions. All of the above were deductible, simply because I associated virtually everything I did for those ten years as being necessary for my business. Even the "vacations"....because we visited vp players for training and/or discussions, and my wife was an advisor TO ME for the purposes of my business. And much of this I would have never known how to do had I not had personal tax help.
So what you're seeing here is someone who "gross profitted" $95k, and had basically the same in deductions---deductions for items that I would have spent anyway in everyday living with or without being involved in a business. In other words, had I not gambled and made $95k, I still would have SPENT $95k, instead having to take it out of my retirement savings like I do right now.
You may now ask about the IRS rule saying a business has to show some kind of profit in order to continue filing as a business operator. However, when you run a business and have the other types of income we had--where plenty of taxes were also paid on--it negates that rule to some degree. This is where I had my most helpful loophole training. Let's just say I know how GE legally pays little to no taxes on billions of dollars of income, year after year.
Like I said, you either prepare for going into being a professional gambler or you don't. And if you're on the outside looking in, you shouldn't be criticizing or dissing that which you really don't know much about. I know you mock my groceries deductions for instance. But it is allowed, and I maxed it out to my best benefit. I was audited a total of four of the ten years, and the net result was they sent me $800 in overpayment refunds.