just wondering

[toolman]

I have been with offshore sportsbooks for a couple of months. I live in Canada, do I have to put anything in my Income Taxes when I fill them out. Winnings? looses? If I have money in the account? Anything? just wondering.
thanks

[tim]

There isn't a book that I know internationally that reports winnings to any government. If you want to report your winnings, that's up to you. The IRS allows you to deduct gambling losses but only from your winnings. My advice: keep it to yourself.

[wintermute]

I'm from Canada. As far as I know, you can't deduct losses but I'm sure the government will gladly tax any winnings you declare. You think that's a fair deal?

[Hartley]

Toolman, the answer is based strictly on whether you are a professional gambler (i.e. bet for a living).

If you bet for fun and have another job, then winfalls are NOT taxable in Canada. That's why if you win $10,000,000 on Lotto-6/49, you get the full amount in one lump sum. The only thing taxable is the interest gained on the money, if you put it in investments.

Having said that, no one can possibly find out about winnings offshore, so there is no reason in the world to declare it even if you are a professional gambler. And if you win tons of money in the U.S., they take a tax deduction at time of payout anyways (for anything over $10,000), so you've already paid U.S. taxes, which you may be able to recover some of by filling out a U.S. tax form and deducting other previous losses.

Hope this helps.