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If you had a successful night at the slots or poker tables, you're going to have to share some of the lucky proceeds with Uncle Sam. The Internal Revenue Service generally requires that you report your gambling winnings and losses separately when you file your taxes rather than combining the two amounts.
- Jan 03, 2020 You may deduct gambling losses only if you itemize your deductions on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF) and kept a record of your winnings and losses. The amount of losses you deduct can't be more than the amount of gambling income you reported on your return.
- Gambling winnings are reported as Other Income on Line 21 of IRS Form 1040. While you may be able to deduct your gambling losses, gambling winnings are not directly offset by gambling losses in your tax return. You must be able to itemize deductions on Schedule A of your return in order to deduct the gambling losses, and then can only deduct an.
Tax form: If you receive money for gambling winnings, you can receive a FormW-2 G, Certain Gambling Winnings, to report the income to the IRS. The payer can provide the form at the time of payout depending on the type of game you played, how much you won and some other factors. If the payer immediately withholds taxes, you will still receive the form. The IRS requires you to keep detailed records of your gambling winnings and losses, and to keep any related documents, including receipts, tickets, payment slips, statements, and Form W-2G. You must be able to prove both your winnings and losses if you wish to deduct your losses.
Record Keeping
![Gambling win loss statement explained Gambling win loss statement explained](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125207477/697394073.png)
As you gamble during the year, you need to keep records of your winnings and losses so that you can support whatever figures you report on your taxes. The IRS permits you to use per-session recording, which means that instead of recording whether you won or lost each time you pull the slot machine, you can simply record your total for the session. Your records should include the date and type of gambling, where you gambled and if you gambled with anyone else, such as a home poker game. If you win more than $600, you should receive a Form W-2G from the casino.
Taxable Winnings
When figuring your gambling winnings, only include the winnings from each session rather than using losses to offset your gains. You have to include gambling winnings even if you didn't receive a Form W-2G from the casino. For example, if you gambled six times during the year, winning $100, $3,000, $4,000 and $6,000 but losing $5,000 and $2,000, your gambling winnings for the year are $13,100. This amount gets reported on line 21 of your Form 1040 tax return.
Gambling Losses
To claim your gambling losses, you have to itemize your deductions. Gambling losses are a miscellaneous deduction, but -- unlike some other miscellaneous deductions -- you can deduct the entire loss. The deduction goes on line 28 of Schedule A and you have to note that the deduction is for gambling losses. For example, if you lost $5,000 on one occasion and $7,000 on another, your total deduction is $12,000.
Gambling Loss Limitation
You can't deduct more in gambling losses than you have in gambling winnings for the year. For example, suppose you reported $13,000 in gambling winnings on Line 21 of Form 1040. Even if you lost $100,000 that year, your gambling loss deduction is limited to $13,000. Worse, you aren't allowed to carry forward the excess, so if you had $87,000 in losses you couldn't deduct last year, you can't use that to offset the gambling income from the current year.
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- tax forms image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
About the Author
Based in the Kansas City area, Mike specializes in personal finance and business topics. He has been writing since 2009 and has been published by 'Quicken,' 'TurboTax,' and 'The Motley Fool.'
Do you like to gamble? Do you ever win? If the answers to these questions are 'yes,' you need to know about deducting your gambling losses.
All Gambling Winnings Are Taxable Income
All gambling winnings are taxable income—that is, income that is subject to both federal and state income taxes (except for the seven states that have no income taxes). It makes no difference how you earn your winnings, whether at a casino, gambling website, Church raffle, or your friendly neighborhood poker game.
It also makes no difference where you win: whether at a casino or other gambling establishment in the United States (including those on Indian reservations), in a foreign country such as Mexico or Aruba, on a cruise ship, Mississippi river boat, or at a gambling website hosted outside the U.S. As far as the IRS is concerned, a win is a win and must be included on your tax return.
All Your Winnings Must Be Listed On Your Tax Return
If, like the vast majority of people, you’re a recreational gambler, you’re supposed to report all your gambling winnings on your tax return every year. You may not, repeat NOT, subtract your losses from your winnings and only report the amount left over, if any. You’re supposed to report every penny you win, even if your losses exceeded your winnings for the year.
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Gambling Loss Tax Form
Gambling Losses May Be Deducted Up to the Amount of Your Winnings
Fortunately, although you must list all your winnings on your tax return, you don't have to pay tax on the full amount. You are allowed to list your annual gambling losses as an itemized deduction on Schedule A of your tax return. If you lost as much as, or more than, you won during the year, you won't have to pay any tax on your winnings. Even if you lost more than you won, you may only deduct as much as you won during the year.
However, you get no deduction for your losses at all if you don’t itemize your deductions—just one of the ways gamblers are badly treated by the tax laws.
You Need Good Records
Gambling Win Loss Tax Form
As the above rules should make clear, you must list both your total annual gambling winnings and losses on your tax return. If you’re audited, your losses will be allowed by the IRS only if you can prove the amount of both your winnings and losses. You’re supposed to do this by keeping detailed records of all your gambling wins and losses during the year. This is where most gamblers slip up—they fail to keep adequate records (or any records at all). As a result, you can end up owing taxes on winnings reported to the IRS even though your losses exceed your winnings for the year.
Gambling Win Loss On Taxes
New online casino for us players. This has happened to many gamblers who failed to keep records. For example, Bill Remos, a Coca-Cola delivery driver in Chicago, gambled for fun and got lucky: He won $50,000 in a single game of blackjack. When Remos filed his taxes for the year he didn’t report the $50,000 win as income. Why? He knew he had at least $50,000 in gambling losses during the year. He subtracted his losses from his winnings and ended up with zero; so he figured he didn’t have any gambling income to list on his return. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Not to the IRS. Remos was audited by the IRS. Because he failed to follow the rules and couldn’t document his losses, he had to pay income tax on his entire $50,000 blackjack win. He ended up owing the IRS $17,000 in back taxes. This on an annual income of only $32,000!
Irs Gambling Win Loss Statement
Will the IRS Know?
Gambling is a cash business, so how will the IRS know how much you won during the year? Unfortunately for gamblers, casinos, race tracks, state lotteries, bingo halls, and other gambling establishments located in the United States are required to tell the IRS if you win more than a specified dollar amount. They do this by filing a tax form called Form W2-G with the IRS. You’re given a copy of the form as well. When a W2-G must be filed depends on the type of game you play. For examplle, the casino must file a W2-G if you win $1,200 or more playing slots; but only if you win $1,500 or more at keno. Thus, if you have one or more wins exceeding the reporting thrseshold, the IRS will know that you earned at least that much gambling income during the year. If this income is not listed on your tax return, you’ll likely hear from the IRS.
The Rules Differ for Professional Gamblers
Gambling Winnings Form 1040
If you gamble full-time to earn a living, you may qualify as a professional gambler for tax purposes. Professional gamblers inhabit a different tax universe than those who gamble for fun. In general, gambling pros are treated better by the IRS than amateurs, but few people qualify as gambling professioanls.