How To File Casino Losses On Taxes

Gambling winnings are taxed like regular income! How would the IRS know about thisif you didn’t tell them? Simple: If you win $1200 or more on a slot or video poker machine or bingo, or cash in $10,000 or more in chips at the cage in any given day, thenyou’ll have to show your ID and fill out a tax form.

The IRS does let you deduct gambling losses from gambling winnings, though. Youcan’t deduct more than your winnings, of course, the IRS isn’t that stupid.You can’t say you won $1,000 and lost $5,000, for a net loss of $4,000. If thatwas your actual experience, you could apply $1,000 of your losses towards your $1,000in winnings so you wouldn’t owe any tax on your winnings.

Let’s say you get lucky and have a big win. At that point you want to deduct yourlosses from your winnings to reduce your taxes. How do you find your losses? Here’swhere having a Player’s Card at the casino comes in handy. Since casinos track players’action when they have a card, the casino can give you a report of how much you lostwhen tax time comes around. Of course, it’s best if you also keep your own log ofyour play. Here’s a free Win/Loss Tracking Form (PDF)you can download.

Note that as of this writing, there is current activity in the United States Senate(bill S.972) “To Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to prohibit any deductionfor gambling losses”. Obviously, this strikes us as rather unfair. If you won $3,000and lost $2,000, then your real winnings were only $1,000 and that’s what shouldbe taxed. But if certain legislators have their way, they’ll consider that yourincome from gambling is $3,000 and your losses don’t count.

How to Deduct Gambling Losses on a Federal Income Tax Return. By: Mark Kennan. File your income taxes using Form 1040. Since the gambling losses deduction is an itemized deduction, you cannot use any other income tax form. Report the amount of your gambling losses on line 28 of your Schedule A list of itemized deductions. In the space.

May 03, 2019 Whether it's $5 or $5,000, from an office pool or from a casino, all gambling winnings must be reported on your tax return as 'other income' on. It’s quite challenging to get excited about taxes. But for poker players, this week’s podcast has something to be excited about: A clear breakdown of how to pay taxes as a poker player. If you Google for the answer, you’ll get lots of conflicting and jumbled advice from a variety of experts and amateurs.

We are neither accountants nor lawyers so nothing in this article should be construedas a replacement for advice from a competent professional. For more info about theimpact of taxation on winnings we recommend the book The Gambler’s Guide to Taxes by Walter L. Lewis, CPA.

If you lose money gambling, you might be able to deduct it on your tax returns. However, before you can claim the deduction, you'll have to meet two important requirements. First, the IRS will want you to itemize all of your deductions. Second, you can only deduct gambling losses to the extent that you have gambling winnings.

Claiming the Gambling Deduction

The way that you claim the gambling deduction is relatively simple. First, you have to file Schedule A and itemize your tax deductions. This means that you can't claim the standard deduction, but you can write off expenses like your state income tax, mortgage interest, property taxes, car registration tax and charitable donations. If you have gambling losses, you write them off as 'other miscellaneous deductions' on line 28 of Schedule A, where they get combined with your other itemized deductions to reduce your taxable income.

Deduction Rules

The IRS will only let you deduct losses to the extent that you win. For instance, if you lose $3,000 on one trip to the casino and win $2,100 on another trip in the same year, you can write off $2,100 in losses to offset the $2,100 in winnings, leaving you with a total of $900 of taxable gambling income. If you lost $1,000 on one trip and won $9,500 on another, though, you could claim the entire $1,000 in losses to reduce your net income from gambling to $8,500.

Proving Your Gambling

If you claim a gambling loss deduction, you will have to prove that you are entitled to it. Casinos send a form W-2G when you win to let the IRS know that they paid you, but it's up to you to establish your losses. The IRS requires you to keep tickets or receipts and a diary of your winnings and losses to substantiate your deduction. If you can get a printout from the casino of your gambling activity, such as if you use a player's club card, it may be helpful.

Professional Gambling

The rules for professional gamblers are different. A professional gambler makes a business out of gambling. He can write off his gambling losses and any expenses that he incurs for gambling -- like travel -- to offset gambling income. Since gambling is a business, he would file a Schedule C to report his income and expenses and would also have to pay self-employment taxes on his profits.

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