VNEA Winnings and Tax Season

R

Reverend Dave

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was lucky enough to win a tidy sum of money at the VNEA championships last May/June.:) My question is this, since the winnings were reported on a 1099 MISC (basically meaning I was self employed). What type of expenses can I deduct? I have thought about the basics such as airfare, parking, hotel stay, entry fees, table fees during the tournament and meals.
The items which I wonder about are weekly league fees (had to participate to qualify for Vegas), mileage to and from league venues, cue maintenance, and last but certainly not least, weekly table time for practice. It would seem to me that if pool playing was my "profession" for this part of my income, I should be able to write off my expenses incurred honing my "job" skills.
I am hoping with the VNEA, BCA, APA and all the other professional and amateur events out there, someone may have had to deall with this in the past. Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
David Krenzel
 
Reverend Dave said:
I was lucky enough to win a tidy sum of money at the VNEA championships last May/June.:) My question is this, since the winnings were reported on a 1099 MISC (basically meaning I was self employed). What type of expenses can I deduct? I have thought about the basics such as airfare, parking, hotel stay, entry fees, table fees during the tournament and meals.
The items which I wonder about are weekly league fees (had to participate to qualify for Vegas), mileage to and from league venues, cue maintenance, and last but certainly not least, weekly table time for practice. It would seem to me that if pool playing was my "profession" for this part of my income, I should be able to write off my expenses incurred honing my "job" skills.
I am hoping with the VNEA, BCA, APA and all the other professional and amateur events out there, someone may have had to deall with this in the past. Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
David Krenzel
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I have never heard of anyone claiming earnings from a vnea tournament,it is an amateur event so no pros are supposed to play,if you are not a pro you do not have to claim.If you were allowed to claim you would be able to claim expenses for league fees,gas,cue expenses etc,plus many other things that cost mone to play in leagues.
 
BillYards said:
Pay $100 to have a good tax guy do your return.
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Who doesn't work for one of the H & R Block Type Companies.

I was Self Employed for 15 or 18 years, and became very Familiar with the IRS Form Schedule "C"

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,319990,00.html

Do a Goggle Search for IRS Form Schedule "C", and think about all the things you bought, all the place you went, all the expenses to get that BIG CHECK you are going to have to pay TAXES UPON. Do you have Receipts, Travel/Mileage Logs/Motel Receipts/Meal receipts, etc. etc. etc.

Think you might PM JAM as her Keith should be able to help you with what and what is not deductible, as a Self Employed Profession Athlete.

Also as GOMER PYLE use to say, Surprise, Surprise, you will own your UNCLE 15.3% for Social Security......:mad:




 
Unfortunately, VNEA does take your social security info and provide the amount won to the I.R.S. for tax purposes. (Amateur or not). Uncle Sam always gets paid when larger sums are involved.
Thanks to Billyards and Pool sleuth for the replies

Dave
 
almer said:
I have never heard of anyone claiming earnings from a vnea tournament,it is an amateur event so no pros are supposed to play,if you are not a pro you do not have to claim.If you were allowed to claim you would be able to claim expenses for league fees,gas,cue expenses etc,plus many other things that cost mone to play in leagues.
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This myth, and many others, is why you'd better hire an accountant to make sure you don't get your tit in the wringer, and leave the guessing to the AZ board members.

Once they have your ssn, you're liable for whatever Uncle Sam wants you to pay. I had to give mine for a $50 (!!!) win at state a few years ago. I protested and withheld my number from our league operator and that made her cry. Seriously. I tried to explain the law, but I was the bad guy for making her cry. Insanity runs amuck and the sheep follow along.:mad:

I can't believe you haven't read the 200,000 pages in the IRS code!:eek: Don't you know that ignorance of the law is no excuse? :cool: It should only take you about 15 years to read it, so you'll have your forms ready by April 15, 2021.

Congrats on the winnings, btw. :)

Jeff Livingston
 
almer said:
I have never heard of anyone claiming earnings from a vnea tournament,it is an amateur event so no pros are supposed to play,if you are not a pro you do not have to claim.If you were allowed to claim you would be able to claim expenses for league fees,gas,cue expenses etc,plus many other things that cost mone to play in leagues.
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I don't know anything about the VNEA but I have been reporting tournament winnings and claming expenses for many years. I even report anything like tip and ferrule repairs, cues I sell, anything I make regarding pool. I go to a tournament I keep my expenses even if I don't play because I am networking and pool is a business to me and part of my annual income. I have a city and county license and pay sales tax on cue repairs and sales. I have no fear of an audit, I have been audited, they can look at what ever they want I keep meticulous records. Up until recently My group health insurance was connected to the pool part of our business till the rates got too high, now I just have individual policies.
 
dundundunnnnnnnnn
have no fear.....i am here lol

im an accountant and enrolled agent, let me give you the skinny on this. Yes you have to report this income because its been turned into the IRS, they get a copy of the 1099 misc, well of course youre supposed to claim all income but that went without saying right guys?

anyway......theres a little confusion about the 1099. Yes if you are in the business of being a pool player, you would claim this money on a schedule c, just like it was a business, and then you could basically deduct all expenses incurred earning this money.............travel, motel, flight, some meals, equipment....etc etc etc

a second option.......is to call it hobby income, claim it on line 21 of your 1040, and then you can claim your hobby expenses up to the amount of your winnings, on your schedule A if you itemize. If you dont itemize then basically you just lose out on the deductions.

the main thing here is........is pool playing a job or ongoing profit making activity for you? for most people the answer is going to be no, and you just put the amount on line 21 of the 1040 as misc income. Yes you pay tax on the whole amount, but you dont have to pay social security, where if you put it on schedule c you do.

of course some people would be devious and claim the income on schedule c, then claim a whole crap load of expenses and try to take a loss on it, which would help them owe less tax. The danger here is if you do it several years in a row you run the risk of an audit, and if you are audited and the irs determines its just a hobby, they make you go back and repay all the tax (not pretty).

any of yall with tax questions feel free to pm me.......like i said im an accountant/enrolled agent......partner in a small accounting practice here for the last 15 years. I always thought it would be cool if we could kind of call upon each others knowledge in other fields.....like to get second opinions on things, so i offer mine up (within reason of course).
 
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