Tax Form To Report Gambling Losses

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Professional gamblers are treated differently from amateur gamblers for tax purposes because a professional gambler is viewed as engaged in the trade or business of gambling. The professional gambler reports gambling winnings and losses for federal purposes on Schedule C, Profit or Loss From. Whether it's $5 or $5,000, from an office pool or from a casino, all gambling winnings must be reported on your tax return as 'other income' on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 21. If you win a non.

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.

Gambling losses can only be deducted up to the amount of the gambling winnings. Gambling winnings are reported on Form 1040 Line 21 as Miscellaneous Income. Gambling Losses are reported on Form 1040 Schedule A as a Miscellaneous itemized deduction. Gambling losses are not a one-for-one reduction in winnings. Gambling winnings are reported as Other Income on Line 21 of IRS Form 1040. While you may be able to deduct your gambling losses, gambling winnings are not directly offset by gambling losses in your tax return. The tax code requires institutions that offer gambling to issue Forms W-2G if you win: $600 or more on a horse race (if the win pays at least 300 times the wager amount); $1,200 or more at bingo or on a slot machine; $1,500 or more at keno; $5,000 or more in a poker tournament. Jul 30, 2019  You have to report your winnings and file a tax return for the year funds were received. Meaning, if you won in 2019 then you need to file a 2019 tax return. Also, you can only claim your gambling losses if you are able to itemize your tax deductions. Gambling winnings are reported as Other Income on Line 21 of IRS Schedule 1 (Form 1040). While you may be able to deduct your gambling losses, gambling winnings are not directly offset by gambling losses in your tax return.

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.

Tax Form To Report Gambling Losses 2017

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.

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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.

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Based in the Kansas City area, Mike specializes in personal finance and business topics. He has been writing since 2009 and has been published by 'Quicken,' 'TurboTax,' and 'The Motley Fool.'