Accounting and poker

Hectorjelly

That title should put people off anyway. Its getting towards the end of the year and Im trying to balance my books, ie work out exactly how much Ive lost this year and how much better off I would of been in work, but Im running into some difficulties. Ive kept meticulous records, and just want to find out what kind of metrics are used to quantify success or lack of it. For example when comparing my income to my income last year should I just ignore tax?

I just have a few simple queries so if theres anyone else out there who has done it before and who wouldnt mind answering a few questions pm me please.

Imposter

If you don't have to pay tax on your winnings then you'll have to compare it to your earnings from last year after tax.

How is the whole tax thing supposed to work in Poland?
As an aside (more for amusement than anything else), i've been looking into this here in Austria but I can't seem to find any info and i'm sure as hell not going to go and ask any gevernment dept! Apparently taxes on gambling are already paid by the bookies/casinos/etc but that ignores the whole interweb gambling thingee.

Other than that I obviously can't be of any help.

Waylander

HJ you should always compare like with like in these comparisons, so at the end of the day it is the income you receive you should be comparing, so net pay in work should be the figure used. I am an accountant so feel free to pm me any queries you may have and I will do my best to answer them for you.

Ste05

I've never done such a comparison, but from a general point of view, when you make a comparison of this type you need to compare "like with like", therefore, you should compare what your Net income last year was (i.e. After Tax, PRSI, etc.) compared to how much profit you made at the tables this year, as a total figure. To make the comparison accurate, you need to look at the opportunity cost of playing Poker as opposed to continuing in employment, therefore you need to factor in any increases/bonus payments you would have received had you continued in employment.

When looking at your Poker Earnings, I'd say you'd need to factor in BR building (assuming you are growing your BR to allow you to move up in levels and therefore give yourself a promotion of sorts, and also allowing your Poker earnings to continue to grow into the future and to be capable of sustaining an increasing level of income for you into the future). Therefore I would say you need to compare your Earnings as outlined above to what money you have cashed out, and what money you have available to cashout without affecting your BR.

As I say I've never done such an exercise, but if I was in your shoes this is the sort of comparison I would do.

Hectorjelly

Thanks guys.

Imposter, as far as Im concerned I still live in Ireland.
Waylander, thanks Ill do that.
Ste thats a good point that I have totally failed to consider.

ionapaul

It must be fairly hard for those not in very linear career paths to calculate the 'opportunity cost' Ste05 mentions - for a civil servant it might be easy (i.e. I was a primary teacher earning €x, I have been playing poker for two years, if I had stayed in teaching I would be earning €x + €x at this stage), but for someone in the private sector, relatively difficult. Having a blank space (would employers want to know that a person made a good living playing online poker for months / years? I think many would react badly) on the C.V. can sometimes be hard to explain, though in Ireland you could always say 'I was travelling...doing volunteer work'. A friend from Switzerland told me that employers there are much less accepting of any such breaks in the employment history. Would an opportunity cost be associated with the possible reduction in marketability / impact of an individual's C.V.?

Also, if you have moved from Ireland to Poland, even if you still consider yourself living in Ireland for tax purposes, if your living expenses are now reduced I think you should get hold of one of those salary calculators that show comparative salaries in different cities...they have good ones online comparing different US cities (for example, if you are making €50,000 in NYC, you will enjoy the same standard of living making €38,000 in Hicksville, Square State), they might have the same for Dublin - Warsaw...