You are required to report your winnings\n\n For example, if you winR$620 from a horse race but it cost youR$20 to bet, your taxable winnings areR$620, notR$600 after subtracting yourR$20 wager. You are not permitted to "net" your winnings and losses. Cash is not the only kind of winnings you need to report.

an agreement to risk money on the unknown result of an event in the hope of winning more money than you have risked, or the amount of money risked; a bet.

Live players tend to be much more inelastic with draws and pairs, meaning they will give large and small bet/raise sizes roughly the same amount of action. Whereas online players tend to be more elastic and give those large bet/raise sizes less action (and thus when they do give action it's with a stronger hand range!)

So to answer the question of can you make money playing poker, the answer is yes. However, you need to use a strong fundamentally sound poker strategy. This involves first picking the best games to play in. For a beginner I suggest low stakes full ring cash games online.