Originally Posted by
SharpAngles
Exempt prizes
A prize may not be taxable if it meets certain legal tests. To be tax-exempt, the prize must be in recognition of personal achievement in religious, scientific, literary, artistic, charitable, educational or civic affairs. You cannot have nominated yourself for the prize or submitted your own work for review. You can’t be required to perform services as a condition for receiving the prize. You cannot claim the prize for yourself but instead must assign the prize to charity. If you assign away the prize, you don’t get a charitable donation deduction. All these tests must be met to avoid tax on the prize.
References (7)
If I'm Cabo I'm telling the taxman that I was recognized as a top 50 player here and awarded the seat because of my artistic play. I then decided to donate the buyin to the prize pool of the ME and won't be taking a deduction for that generous act. Pretty solid IMO.