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Gaming Guru
Ask the Slot Expert: The way we claim gambling losses is not fair23 December 2011
Dear Paul, Thanks for the kind words about my column. You're absolutely right that the way we have to report gambling winning and losses does not accurately represent a player's true net. Be careful when you use the numbers from a win/loss statement. Let's say you have a W-2G for $3,000 and your win/loss says you lost $2,000. If the statement does not break out IRS-reported winnings, the $3,000 you won is included in the $2,000 loss. To make the gambling winnings minus the gambling losses you report match the statement, you have to deduct the IRS-reported winnings from the net on your statement. In my example, deduct $3,000 from the $2,000 loss to get a loss of $5,000. Your return should show $3,000 in winnings, $5,000 in losses and that matches the $2,000 loss on your win/loss statement. This situation is even worse for high-limit players, who rack up W-2Gs every couple of spins. I know high-limit players who have millions of dollars in W-2Gs but have actually lost money playing the slots. They have to keep scrupulous records to avoid having to pay taxes on phantom winnings. Unfortunately, with our government starved for revenue, don't expect this situation or the $1,200 reporting threshold to be changed anytime soon. It's a good idea to put aside 20-25 percent of any reportable winnings to use for paying the taxes on them. Best of luck in and out of the casinos, Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert, at slotexpert@comcast.net. Because of the volume of mail I receive, I regret that I can't reply to every question. This article is provided by the Frank Scoblete Network. Melissa A. Kaplan is the network's managing editor. If you would like to use this article on your website, please contact Casino City Press, the exclusive web syndication outlet for the Frank Scoblete Network. To contact Frank, please e-mail him at fscobe@optonline.net. Recent Articles
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