- One Guy Smith, 62, failed to disclose over $821,000 in income tax between 2012 and 2016
- Smith played and won over $1 million in poker proceeds between 2012 and 2016, on top of $482,000 generated through a business of his
- Smith pleaded guilty earlier this week, agreeing to cover the back tax and hoping to avoid jail time
Connecticut-based poker player Guy Smith failed to pay tax on over $1 million in gambling winnings in the period between 2012-2016.
Poker Player Pleads Guilty in $1m Gambling Winnings Tax Case
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has successfully brought up one Guy Smith, aged 62, on charges of failing to report over $1 million in gambling winnings over the course of several years. In the official indictment, Smith, who has since pleaded guilty and now faces jail time, the IRS specified that he had accumulated his winnings at poker.
Smith is a professional poker player based in Shelton, Connecticut, who ignored to disclose his winnings with his annual tax statement for several years, oblivious of the fact that casinos report proceedings to the tax office. He played in numerous locations, including his home state of Connecticut, Nevada, New Jersey and the Bahamas.
Smith, who also owns Centerline Interiors, a furniture business, pleaded guilty to all charges and admitted that he failed to report taxes for several years. The IRS has established that Smith was withdrawing funds to put in his poker and gambling accounts over the years.
Specifically, Smith generated $482,000 in income revenue between 2012 and 2016, from his furniture business but he failed to disclose this to the IRS. Worse still, Smith generated over $1 million in gambling winnings during the period and was subject to previous, non-litigious approaches by the IRS which had asked him to comply with tax law on several occasions prior.
His tax misdemeanor amounts to some $821,415 in missed reported income tax over the period. Now, though, Smith has agreed to plead guilty and he is prepared to pay all back tax, interest and penalty, the poker player said during a video conference call with a Connecticut court.
Guy Smith is also a registered player with WSOP, but his live winnings from WSOP events amount to just $23,820.