Tax Records

Anyone out there keep records of their losses to itemize against taxable winnings at the end of the year?

I need some help this.

Thanks

Quote: beenitty

Anyone out there keep records of their losses to itemize against taxable winnings at the end of the year?

I need some help this.

Thanks

The simple way my mom, an IRS enrolled agent, has me do it is: you may deduct your losses to the extent of your reported winnings; you can not report a net loss as a deduction. Keep losing parlay and lotto tickets, ATM receipts from casinos, any kind of documentation you can, especially things with dates on them. You can request statements from casinos, if you use a player card, to help show your losses.

Pro bettors on here may have more to add. or even correct, but this has kept me clean with the IRS.

Quote: beachbumbabs

The simple way my mom, an IRS enrolled agent, has me do it is: you may deduct your losses to the extent of your reported winnings; you can not report a net loss as a deduction. Keep losing parlay and lotto tickets, ATM receipts from casinos, any kind of documentation you can, especially things with dates on them. You can request statements from casinos, if you use a player card, to help show your losses.

Pro bettors on here may have more to add. or even correct, but this has kept me clean with the IRS.

Pretty much. It's up to you to keep accurate records in a gambling diary. I use an excel spreadsheet. Especially for table games, and especially if you play unrated some/most of the time, casino win/loss reports are worse than useless.

Report your gross winnings on the front of 1040 under "other income." Deduct your gross losses on Schedule A.

Where you draw the line for a "session" is up to you, but keep it reasonable in case you get audited. Reporting just a net win for the year is expressly forbidden.

I found this book extremely helpful.

There are some old threads that go into much more detail. Here's one.

Next Question.

Sometimes when I go to the cage to cash out, they ask for my social, other times they don't.

I've never filled out a W2-G or any other documentation, but they have my social.

At the end of the year I will get a 1099 with the accumulation of all the cashouts that they have record of?

I read something about The Wizard saying that casinos do not report winnings to the IRS....

So I required to recall the amounts and be on the honor system since I play only table games?

Quote: beenitty

Next Question.

Sometimes when I go to the cage to cash out, they ask for my social, other times they don't.

I've never filled out a W2-G or any other documentation, but they have my social.

At the end of the year I will get a 1099 with the accumulation of all the cashouts that they have record of?

No.

Quote:

I read something about The Wizard saying that casinos do not report winnings to the IRS....

So I required to recall the amounts and be on the honor system since I play only table games?

Yep! Keep a gambling diary, add up all your wins and report that on the front of your 1040, add up all of your losses and deduct in on Schedule A. That is the official method. There are several threads here about it, search for them.

Has anyone here ever been audited for gambling wins or losses?

I have gone through several major audits and never was I asked anything about gambling including years when I had several hundred thousand dollars of W2Gs but no taxable profit.

Quote: beenitty

Next Question.

Sometimes when I go to the cage to cash out, they ask for my social, other times they don't.

I've never filled out a W2-G or any other documentation, but they have my social.

At the end of the year I will get a 1099 with the accumulation of all the cashouts that they have record of?

I read something about The Wizard saying that casinos do not report winnings to the IRS....

So I required to recall the amounts and be on the honor system since I play only table games?

The only way your winnings would be reported to the IRS is if they filled out a W2-G. The reason your social security is used is because they are required to track daily transaction totals and report them when the total is over $10k. It's an attempt to stop money laundering and suspicious activity