Andrew_Jackson_FTW
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- May 12, 2022
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Professional gamblers have been sounding the alarm about an element of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that passed in the Senate earlier this week, saying it would effectively raise their taxes, potentially by an enormous amount.
The specific language that has thrown gamblers, particularly in the poker community on social media, into a sense of panic was that deductions “shall be equal to 90% of the amount of such losses during such taxable year, and (B) shall be allowed only to the extent of the gains from such transactions during such taxable year.”
Maria Konnikova, who plays poker and writes books about it, also believes the bill would hurt her earnings.
“This is absolutely horrific if you’re a professional poker player—or even someone like me, who straddles the journalism and poker worlds. It’s basically a huge in-built fee on choosing to engage in any form of gambling (poker isn’t gambling—it’s a game of skill—but I won’t get into that here! for the bill’s purposes, we’re lumping all gambling-adjacent activities together),” she told FOS.
“Imagine I have $100,000 in winnings in a year from poker and I played $200,000-worth of tournaments, for a net win of $0. In past years, I’d have zero poker income—no taxes, because I didn’t actually make a cent. Under this bill, my losses are capped at 90%. So, I can only report $90,000 in losses—and I have to pay taxes on a phantom $10,000 that I don’t actually have! I’m being charged a penalty for choosing to play to begin with. This is absolutely bonkers. For someone like me, it means I effectively have to use my earnings as a writer to subsidize playing poker. Instead of an income stream, poker becomes a liability. If the purpose of this bill is to kill poker and stop people from playing, mission accomplished. The provision hurts you whether you have a winning year or a losing year—and the poker ecosystem is unlikely to survive the change.”
frontofficesports.com
Who wrote this piece of trash legislation into the Bill? Looks like because of the real conservative Thomas Massey it won’t pass.
The specific language that has thrown gamblers, particularly in the poker community on social media, into a sense of panic was that deductions “shall be equal to 90% of the amount of such losses during such taxable year, and (B) shall be allowed only to the extent of the gains from such transactions during such taxable year.”
Maria Konnikova, who plays poker and writes books about it, also believes the bill would hurt her earnings.
“This is absolutely horrific if you’re a professional poker player—or even someone like me, who straddles the journalism and poker worlds. It’s basically a huge in-built fee on choosing to engage in any form of gambling (poker isn’t gambling—it’s a game of skill—but I won’t get into that here! for the bill’s purposes, we’re lumping all gambling-adjacent activities together),” she told FOS.
“Imagine I have $100,000 in winnings in a year from poker and I played $200,000-worth of tournaments, for a net win of $0. In past years, I’d have zero poker income—no taxes, because I didn’t actually make a cent. Under this bill, my losses are capped at 90%. So, I can only report $90,000 in losses—and I have to pay taxes on a phantom $10,000 that I don’t actually have! I’m being charged a penalty for choosing to play to begin with. This is absolutely bonkers. For someone like me, it means I effectively have to use my earnings as a writer to subsidize playing poker. Instead of an income stream, poker becomes a liability. If the purpose of this bill is to kill poker and stop people from playing, mission accomplished. The provision hurts you whether you have a winning year or a losing year—and the poker ecosystem is unlikely to survive the change.”
Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Includes Huge Tax Hike for Gamblers
One professional gambler told FOS how the legislation could turn a year with a $1 million profit into one with a $2 million loss after taxes.
frontofficesports.com
Who wrote this piece of trash legislation into the Bill? Looks like because of the real conservative Thomas Massey it won’t pass.
