Tax on Casino winnings.

[craig-A]

After a recent win at the casino my curiousity has been stirred, are my winnings taxable? If so how do you go about paying them? Self cert at the end of the tax year?
Be interesting to hear from any professional gamblers re how they pay tax etc.

[marshalla]

HMRC and case law : http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/bimmanual/bim22017....

[Steffan]

As marsgalls suggests such income from the proceeds of gambling itself are not taxable. I would be systematic and precise with the recording of the wins and details as this may prove useful if the revenue seek clarication from the potential taxpayer as to where the money has come from. That is their rig>ht and "I won it gambling" may not suffice: they may want details.

[sumo69]

Yes as above - getting some proof ( a letter or chque advice?) would be useful.

One observation - isn't it strange how many taxi drivers and market traders are members of casinos and are regular attendees? Its not like they don't declare all their takings is it....

David

[malks222]

the basic answer is, in the UK you dont get taxed on gambling winnings. This works out great for people who play poker, bet football, horses etc.....

there are a few grey areas, HMRC area taking a wee bit more interest in professional gamblers (eg guys who trade) as this is not just gambling, involves backing/laying off bets, and the person actually becomes the bookmaker.

however the biggest thing HMRC are likely to pull you up on is where the cash comes from. if you are regularly winning big, you will have a record of this, or be known to casino's bookmakers etc..... there will be a trace. but if you a running a 'cash business' declaring small profits, but suddenly winning big gambling, they would really want to check where the cash for this actually came from.

theres loads of information on this sort of stuff on poker websites/ forums. as a lot of people are 'grinders' where they play low stakes poker but play 40+hrs a week like a full time job grinding out low risk, but constant profits.

[ATV]

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Edited by ATV on Monday 28th July 18:00

[malks222]

ATV said:

According to this, the guy was playing Roulette with £20 on red £20 on black and £2 on zero. So each time he was losing £2 and doing this 10 times gave him a cash out of £400 (assuming he never hit zero)

But then surely the machine will have a record of his 50/50 play and also, he would have to explain where the initial £400 came from in the first place.

So what's the point losing the £10 in the first place?

Doesn't make any sense to me

yes the machine will have a record of every play/ spin/ game played on the machine. however these machines dont require you to 'log-in' and they dont have a record of who actually plays them at what time (this would have to be done via time logs/CCTV footage etc....)

also the time it takes for these guys to go spin some cash through the machine and cash out, really isnt that long. and the number of bookies/ machines out there gives them huge scope to spread the risk over multiple shops. the fact that they let you then credit your online account is a huge score with hills/ ladbrokes, as the guy said this means it just looks like he's a good gambler, money makes money......

then if they get kicked out the bookies, they can then just go to an actual casino with a mate and do the exact same thing on a real roulette table (eg one guy bets black, one bets red, sort out cash at end of the night).

i think the main thing is, even with what the guys are doing, the bookies are still making cash out of it. so unless they get real pressure from government/ police how much effort they going to put in to stop this?!?! i'm not saying its right, but are the bookies to check every customer to see where the cash comes from? to check they're not spending money they shouldnt?