Claiming Gambling Losses On Tax Return

Claiming Gambling Losses On Tax Return 2019
Claiming Gambling Losses On Tax Return Due

Gambling might be an enjoyable pastime for some and it might provide a nice adrenaline rush when you win, but your winnings are subject to federal income tax, and possibly to state taxes as well. The IRS requires that you report the money as income, although it does allow you to claim a deduction for at least some of your losses. In this case, the additional $25,000 deduction for gambling losses would fully cancel out the winnings. If you had no other itemized deductions, then you would get back up to about 80% of the tax withheld, depending on your filing status. Mar 09, 2020 All winnings from all forms of gambling are taxable and must be declared as income on your tax return. All losses from all forms of gambling are deductible as an itemized deduction for recreational players, limited to the amount of winnings declared.

Gambling losses cannot be greater than gambling wins for the tax year. Example: John wins $23,500 during the year playing slots and other casino games. His gambling losses are $37,900. John reports his $23,500 of wins on Schedule 1 and $23,500 as an itemized deduction on Schedule A. The amount of gambling losses you can deduct can never exceed the winnings you report as income. For example, if you have $5,000 in winnings but $8,000 in losses, your deduction is limited to $5,000.

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.

Record Keeping

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.