Claiming Gambling Winnings And Losses

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1. Proof Of Gambling Losses Irs
2. Gambling Losses Irc
3. Offset Gambling Winnings With Losses
4. Claiming Gambling Winnings And Losses On Taxes
5. Claiming Gambling Winnings

Gambling losses are indeed tax deductible, but only to the extent of your winnings and requires you to report all the money you win as taxable income on your return. The deduction is only available if you itemize your deductions. If you claim the standard deduction, then you can't reduce your tax by your gambling losses. You must report the full amount or your winnings as income and claim your losses (up to the amount of your winnings) as an itemized deduction. You cannot reduce your gambling winnings by your gambling losses and then report the difference. Claim your gambling losses on Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, under ‘Other Miscellaneous Deductions’. You may deduct gambling losses on your Minnesota income tax return if you choose to claim Minnesota itemized deductions. You cannot deduct more in gambling losses than you report in gambling winnings on your federal income tax return. Also, you must be able to prove the amount of your losses with the records noted above.

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.

Proof Of Gambling Losses Irs

Gambling Losses Irc

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

Offset Gambling Winnings With 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

Claiming Gambling Winnings And Losses On Taxes

Claiming Gambling Winnings

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.

• tax forms image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com

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