Taxes and W2G's question

I have been gambling since 18, now 34, and this year was the first year that I have had a W2G. Actually this year I have had 3. 1200, 1200, and 2000. I am married, 1 kid, we rent a house, no investment income, and really no write offs. I was doing my taxes on turbo tax and I entered my w2gs. I got to the part where is asks about gambling losses and I put $4400 since we were not profitable this year. At the end it tells me that the standard deduction is more so thats what we are using. I then notice that our return drops by hundreds of dollars. So apparently if you don't itemize your taxes you don't get to write off gambling loses which means you pay taxes on this just like you would on a 1099.

Is this right or is there something that I am missing? If it is right then I am very sad. I always knew you could write your loses off but I never realized that you had to itemize in order to do this. I would have just had them withhold at the casino if I knew this. Live and learn I guess.

It's all a bunch of bull in the first place. I had a W2G a few years ago, although I ended the year in the red. When I put in the losses to offset the W2G, my tax amount went down a little bit but not back to what it was before I even entered the W2G. I don't remember the exact amounts but I believe it was somewhere around 5-10% tax on the W2G amount.

Quote: GWAE

I have been gambling since 18, now 34, and this year was the first year that I have had a W2G. Actually this year I have had 3. 1200, 1200, and 2000. I am married, 1 kid, we rent a house, no investment income, and really no write offs. I was doing my taxes on turbo tax and I entered my w2gs. I got to the part where is asks about gambling losses and I put $4400 since we were not profitable this year. At the end it tells me that the standard deduction is more so thats what we are using. I then notice that our return drops by hundreds of dollars. So apparently if you don't itemize your taxes you don't get to write off gambling loses which means you pay taxes on this just like you would on a 1099.

Is this right or is there something that I am missing? If it is right then I am very sad. I always knew you could write your loses off but I never realized that you had to itemize in order to do this.

Welcome to the sad world of the recreational gambler. If you want to offset your losses against wins, you lose the standard deduction. This is a well-known and very annoying aspect of filing taxes with gambling income.

Quote: GWAE

I would have just had them withhold at the casino if I knew this. Live and learn I guess.

It wouldn't have made a difference if you had. The taxes they withheld on the spot would have been reported on the W-2G and you would have gotten credit for "tax paid," but it wouldn't have changed your itemize/standard deduction problem at all.

Even if the amount had made it conducive to itemizing, theoretically you should have a gambling diary showing all wins and losses for the year. It wouldn't change your situation this year, but if you anticipate getting more W-2Gs this year, perhaps start a diary. For me, my gross losses are more than the standard, so I itemize. Deducting state sales taxes and charitable contributions takes the sting out a little bit, but it's still incredibly annoying.