mil in “wins” with a net of -10k. I mixed up the numbers. Sorry about that. So basically I do not have to report the $318k at all? I wonder why all of the accountants especially the one who handlers gamblers only told me to include that $318k on other income. That’s kind of weird.
But the casino report is not by sessions. Poster said almost all happened in one day, so I think he could greatly reduce what he reports if he goes with the session method instead of what you are suggesting.Quote: MichaelBluejayYet again, no one is suggesting that you report NOTHING, certainly not me. What I actually said, and then repeated, is that you report $1,299,835.52 from the casino report.
Quote: BV3273Got it! Now it’s clicking. I had 1.31 mil in loses and 1.21
mil in “wins” with a net of -10k. I mixed up the numbers. Sorry about that. So basically I do not have to report the $318k at all? I wonder why all of the accountants especially the one who handlers gamblers only told me to include that $318k on other income. That’s kind of weird.
Doesn’t this kill you on NY income tax? As far as I understand, they limit your itemized deductions when you have a high AGI.
Yes, you did have a net loss, but you can't claim a net loss, so what I said you report was:Quote: BV3273Got it! Now it’s clicking. I had 1.31 mil in loses and 1.21
mil in “wins” with a net of -10k.
Quote: MichaelBluejay(1) Report your $1,299,835.52 wins on Schedule 1, Line 21.
(2) Report $1,299,835.52 as losses on Schedule A. Your losses were more than this, but you can't claim more in losses than you won.
Yes, that's exactly what I said:Quote: BV3273So basically I do not have to report the $318k at all?
Quote: MichaelBluejay(4) Ignore your W-2G. It's irrelevant.
As I explain in the article, this issue is widely misunderstood, and even TurboTax gets it wrong. Part of the problem is that the IRS instructions on the W-2G form are unclear. So, when some accountants say one thing and some accountants say another, then it's time to go to the IRS documents and cases and see what *they* say! :)Quote: BV3273I wonder why all of the accountants especially the one who handlers gamblers only told me to include that $318k on other income. That’s kind of weird.
I missed where he said that all his gambling was from a single session. If that's true, then yes, since the session was a loss, and if he had no other winning sessions for the year, then there are no wins (or losses) to report. He should include a letter explaining why he's not reporting wins even though he got a W-2G, as explained in the article. (I know I'm linking to it a lot, but count the number of times in the other thread where people kept asking for the link.)Quote: unJonBut the casino report is not by sessions. Poster said almost all happened in one day, so I think he could greatly reduce what he reports if he goes with the session method instead of what you are suggesting.
I’m actually looking at the the transaction reports from the time period I played. It was over a 2-3 day period. So 2-3 sessions. Only one resulted in a win. The rest resulted in loses. I live in NY and played on my phone while on vacation in NJ. I’m printing out all of these records (158 pages in all) just in case I need to document any of this to the IRS in the future (hopefully not).
I’m not really sure of the implications on the state. All of the accountants said I’d have to file an out of state in NJ.
Again I’d rather be cautious and report the $318k versus little or nothing just to cover myself in case they do come back asking questions.
Not just NY, but federal taxes as well! Here's a good article I found on limitations on itemized deductions.Quote: CrystalMathDoesn’t this kill you on NY income tax? As far as I understand, they limit your itemized deductions when you have a high AGI.
I edited my article earlier to suggest using the W-2G figures if it results in a lower AGI and doesn't change tax liability. BV3273, note that this is a change to my earlier suggestion: Even though the session accounting I suggested to you is correct, you'll probably want to record your $318k W-2G total as your wins on Schedule 1 Line 21, and a $318k loss on Schedule A, to keep your AGI lower so that your deduction isn't limited. Note that even with $318k, your deduction may still be limited!
Yes, it's not fair. Yet another reason that gambling taxes should be abolished.
etc. I’m fine with losing these deductions as long as it doesn’t result in further complications down the road.
It sucks my AGI is going to increase, but since I have a record of every transaction I have a little peace of mind.
You get to be a baller.Quote: FinsRuleAre there any potential benefits to having an inflated agi?
Quote: BV3273I live in NY and played on my phone while on vacation in NJ. I’m printing out all of these records (158 pages in all) just in case I need to document any of this to the IRS in the future (hopefully not).
I’m not really sure of the implications on the state. All of the accountants said I’d have to file an out of state in NJ.
Does this mean that if we have gambling winnings in Las Vegas, that we do not need to report those winnings on our state income tax forms for our state of residence? (Nevada has no state income tax)
If I get a cash payout in a poker tournament in North Carolina (which is not where my residence is), am I required to file an out-of-state income tax form in North Carolina?
Quote: gordonm888Does this mean that if we have gambling winnings in Las Vegas, that we do not need to report those winnings on our state income tax forms for our state of residence? (Nevada has no state income tax)
If I get a cash payout in a poker tournament in North Carolina (which is not where my residence is), am I required to file an out-of-state income tax form in North Carolina?
I can only speak for NY. You would report it as income in NY, but you also get a credit for taxes paid on income earned in other states. So, in your example, you don’t get any credit because Nevada has zero taxes.
Anyway, the OP has a $318K W-2G to declare a loss on with easy casino printouts of the day. It's probably gonna take a court case to use a gambling log of all year's gambling to write off $3 million. The IRS is heavily weighted towards W-2G's. It seems to be an exception to the rule to bring 99 days of non-W-2G activity into the purview of the one day you had W-2G activity. I'd avoid W-2G's like the damn plague, unless there was an upside, like winning big really fast in one day.
It's totally your call, but there's no way I would pay taxes that I don't owe just to avoid getting a letter from the IRS which I could easily clear up by sending back a letter of my own. Heck, if you include an explanatory note with your return, you're unlikely to get such a letter from the IRS in the first place.Quote: BV3273Correct. My account stated that I should report the $318k W-2G total as a win on Schedule 1 Line 21, and a $318k loss on Schedule A. I am going to lose certain deductions such as medical bills, student loan interest,
etc. I’m fine with losing these deductions as long as it doesn’t result in further complications down the road.
I've got a lot of experience with the IRS. I stopped paying taxes during the first Gulf War because I didn't want my tax money being used to kill people. I kept that up for ten years. Once I started making serious money that wasn't going to fly any more, so I settled. I never met an IRS agent, it was rather painless.
Since then, a couple times in my life I got behind on filing returns, I mean like *years*, and an IRS agent visited me each time to inquire about when I'd be able to file. No weaponry, no threats, nothing unpleasant. Each time I gave a good-faith estimate on when I'd be able to file, the agent left, then it actually took me long after my estimate to actually file (several weeks in the first case, maybe a year in the second case), but neither time were there any more visits.
Twice the IRS assessed extra taxes incorrectly. Each time I replied with a simple letter explaining how my reporting was correct, and that satisfied them completely.
In my mind, fear of the IRS is way overblown. As long as you're not cheating, you have little to worry about.
I refer you to my article.Quote: ChumpChange...does every table hop count as a session; or does one day online playing basically the same game count as a session?
Reason number 286 why I avoid on line casinos.....
Quote: SOOPOOThe OP sounds like he played at a site which is legal. What about the majority of Americans who have played at sites which are illegal in this country? I assume the illegal sites do not do any reporting? meaning no W-2Gs? It seems like the advantage of the illegal casinos must be huge if you live in one of the states that taxes winnings without allowing you to deduct losses.
Reason number 286 why I avoid on line casinos.....
This whole thread has me questioning whether I ever want to wager more than $25 a hand at anything.... haha...
I never thought about the tax implications I could get myself mixed up in if I start betting blacks or purples on a regular basis.
I hope someone spares themselves the nonsense by reading this thread and bets in a way not to trigger these wins. I know I wish I had before I played last August.
As far as not reporting the whole amount on the W2G I’ll look into it, but as of now I am going to report it. I’m going to call the gamblers accountant again and get his take on it before I file.
The IRS does consider Bitcoin to be property, but that doesn't mean it's not a transaction. After all, stocks are property but buying and selling them is certainly a transaction, with gains becoming taxable. It makes no difference whether you win property or cash, it's still a win (as I say in the very first bullet point in my article.Quote: ChumpChangeWhen you buy-in and cash-out of the online casino with Bitcoin, I don't see a financial transaction there since Bitcoin is property and not money (but some state will decide to call it money any day now, who knows).
Good idea. Be sure to refer the accountant to my article. Once s/he sees the tax court case I cite that says you report session wins and not W-2G wins, s/he may have a different opinion on the matter.Quote: BV3273I’m going to call the gamblers accountant again and get his take on it before I file.
Quote: SOOPOOBV, you are relatively new here, so we really do not know much about you. It doesn't 'sound' like you are independently wealthy, but were willing to risk $1,000 + on a single online blackjack hand. I am sort of wealthy by most standards, but couldn't even fathom pushing that button! You may want to keep it private, which is of course ok, but can you share how you got to be playing $1,000+ hand blackjack online?
I’m comfortable playing $10 blackjack. Let’s say my annual income is around 150. That would mean i would need an annual income of 15 mil to play $1000 a hand. Sounds about right.
The slot Blackjack machines I saw 20 years ago, that were the slower dollar denomination would never let me win to more than 3 hands ahead; but the quarter slot BJ machines I had a big run on for awhile until everybody noticed that the casino had tightened the machines up like they were supposed to payout 86% instead of near even money.
Just saw somebody playing a single-user multi-player BJ machine on YT. Can bet either $1 or 25 cents, but you play 7 different hands against the dealer simultaneously. It says you can bet up to 350 credits, so I'm assuming it's up to 50 credits per hand before splits and double downs. You'll win if you're in when the dealer busts, but you'll get crushed by a bus when the dealer blackjacks.
I don’t think it scales linearly.Quote: FinsRuleI’m comfortable playing $10 blackjack. Let’s say my annual income is around 150. That would mean i would need an annual income of 15 mil to play $1000 a hand. Sounds about right.
Quote: unJonI don’t think it scales linearly.
I think it does scale pretty close to linearly actually.
Someone who makes 1 mil a year should not be playing $1000 BJ hands on anything close to a regular basis if they are a recreational player.
Total W2G's for the Year $125,000
Total Win using Session Accounting $18,000
Total Losses using session accounting $24,000
So if you go with the report every W2G method your federal AGI will be $125,000 higher which means you are going to owe state income tax on additional $125,000.
On the other hand if you use session accounting your federal AGI will only be $18,000 higher and that is the additional amount you will owe state tax on.
One other thing to point out - definitely research whether the state of NY will allow session accounting. The allowance can vary state by state and sometimes states have not even made a determination. If the state has not made a determination then you should look for their definition of starting income - if it says federal AGI explicitly without adjustments then I would say you could probably use session accounting in that state.
Let me finish by caveating that I am not a tax professional just someone who used MBJ's great article as a starting point and did some in-depth research on state tax implications because of my high W2G total in 2018 (had a high W2G total but ended up a net loser for the year). In my own personal situation my state explicitly allows session accounting and it ended up saving me around 6k in state income tax.
Hopefully this information will help you out.
I updated the article to address this potential problem.
I emailed the New York State tax department to get clarification on if they except this. Since I couldn’t find anything on their website.
Granted the W2G I received is based on actual online gambling where every transaction is recorded. I plan on pouring through these documents. To construct the actual gambling sessions. Each 24 hour day will constitute as one session based on my readings.
My overall tax owed on winning sessions will be significantly lower than what was listed on my W2G for last year. That amount could then be written off on my itemized deductions since I did incur a loss throughout the year.
So my AGI will increase, but not at the $318k figure that is listed on my W2G.
My question is will the casino report the W2G to the IRS?
Quote: BV3273As I continue to research all of the tax laws surrounding gambling I think that the session accounting method may be my best bet.
I emailed the New York State tax department to get clarification on if they except this. Since I couldn’t find anything on their website.
Granted the W2G I received is based on actual online gambling where every transaction is recorded. I plan on pouring through these documents. To construct the actual gambling sessions. Each 24 hour day will constitute as one session based on my readings.
My overall tax owed on winning sessions will be significantly lower than what was listed on my W2G for last year. That amount could then be written off on my itemized deductions since I did incur a loss throughout the year.
So my AGI will increase, but not at the $318k figure that is listed on my W2G.
My question is will the casino report the W2G to the IRS?
Yes the casino will report the W2G. That’s why you should send a letter with your taxes explaining that you used the session method, which is why you reported an amount different than the W2G.
Quote: BV3273Thanks! Has anyone out there done this before?
Please don't tell me you are NOT going to use a professional trained and expert in this unusual type of situation......!!
8/17 & 9/6 only have 3 recorded W2G wins on each day. That leaves 179 qualify W2G wins on 8/16.
Quote: BV3273Ok. After the reviewing the W2G it is based on 3 days 8/16, 8/17, and 9/6.
8/17 & 9/6 only have 3 recorded W2G wins on each day. That leaves 179 qualify W2G wins on 8/16.
Just remember, if you use the session accounting you will need to include everyday that you gambled in 2018, not just the ones with W2G's and not just online gambling.
https://bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Content/Gambling-Per-Session-Rule.aspx
Quote: DRichJust remember, if you use the session accounting you will need to include everyday that you gambled in 2018, not just the ones with W2G's and not just online gambling.
That's really hard to remember to account days that didn't generate a W2G.
Quote: BV3273
My question is will the casino report the W2G to the IRS?
Yes. 100%
Quote: BV3273
Please tell me the casino got it wrong and I’m not on the hook for all these “jackpots”.
-BV
If they sent a copy of the W2G to the
IRS, that's what I'd be worried about.
Quote: BV3273300 times original bet on table games.
Yes and no Must also be at least $600.