Gambling Winnings On 1040
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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.
One itemized deduction that survived tax reform was the ability to deduct your gambling losses. You can tally your losses on the 'Other Miscellaneous Deductions' section of Form 1040 Schedule A. Note, however, that your bad betting luck only goes so far. You can only use your gambling losses to offset, perhaps zero out, your winnings. If you won money and lost money, you have to report those amounts separately—winnings are reported as “Other Income” on Form 1040, and losses are reported as a deduction on Schedule A. You can’t simply subtract your losses from your winnings and report what’s left over. Casinos are required to report gambling winnings if they exceed a certain limit ($1,200 of slot machine winnings for example). Gambling winnings get reported on the first page of your tax return on line 21. What amount of gambling winning must be reported? You must report all gambling winnings (including lotteries, raffles) on line 21, Schedule 1, Form 1040 as ‘Other Income’) including winnings that aren’t reported on a Form W-2G.pdf. When you have gambling winnings, you may be required to pay an estimated tax on that additional income. Gambling winnings, however, are considered to be 'not effectively connected' and must generally be reported on Form 1040NR. Such income is generally taxed at a flat rate of 30%. Nonresident aliens often cannot deduct gambling losses.
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
Where To File Gambling Winnings On 1040
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 Winnings Reported On 1040 Schedule 1
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.
Reporting Gambling Winnings On 1040
- tax forms image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com