Tax Help for Gamblers ─ Poker & Other Casino Games

The complete tax implications of gambling are a big mystery to gamblers, accountants, and even the Internal Revenue Service itself. The IRS offers surprisingly few details to guide gamblers through the tax maze and what it does say is often general, vague, even contradictory.

Tax Help for Gamblers, first published in 2007, deals with the innumerable nuances and gray areas of gambling and taxes. It covers all the whys and wherefores of this complex subject, including tax-code specifics, record-keeping, filing your tax return, state-tax considerations, and audits and other tax problems. Numerous charts and forms help you see the practical application of the information.

This book is for recreational and professional gamblers, including low and high rollers, table-game and machine players, video poker and live poker players, online enthusiasts, international and cruise ship players, and people who live or gamble in states with income taxes. Whether you’re a do-it-yourself tax filer or you use a tax professional,Tax Help for Gamblers is an indispensable guide to staying square with the taxman.

At first glance, Jean Scott appears to be what she isyour average 60-something retired English teacher from the Midwest. In her secret life, though, she’s the most successful casino low roller in the country. Dubbed the Queen of Comps” by CBS’ 48 Hours,” by using slot clubs, taking advantage of promotions and contests, gambling with coupons, and exploiting everything in the casino world that’s even remotely vulnerable, Scott has developed a technique for getting everything she wants from the casinos from Las Vegas to Atlantic City. She has been featured on Dateline,” Hard Copy,” To Tell the Truth,” numerous Travel and Discovery channel documentaries, and 48 Hours.”

Marissa Chien is an Enrolled Agent and the president of her own firm, Advantage Tax Plus, Inc., where she provides tax accounting, financial planning, and wealth management services to her clients. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has approximately 300 individual and corporate clients, including Jean Scott and Phil Gordon as well as other poker champions and professional gamblers.