The numbers are close to what I would expect. If you don't take the standard deduction this year, and looks like you shouldn't, make sure you deduct whatever you're legally allowed to. https://www.irs.gov/credits-and-deductions-for-individuals The software probably guided you most of these things.
FYI to poster and some others. No matter what the casino takes out for federal taxes - it is NOT what you will pay at tax time. Withholding is only a way to have some money set aside for possible future taxes. Some folks could have 25% taken out and get it all back. Some could have 25% taken out and still have to pay more at tax time. Most will be somewhere in between. It all depends on your total TAXABLE income - with standard deduction, or itemized.
So if you take the standard deduction, you can't deduct your gambling losses from your hand pays? Geez! So you have to itemize. The standard deductions are now crazy high. The 2023 standard deduction for those married filing jointly is $27,700 The 2024 standard deduction for those married filing jointly is $29,200 I won $4700 in hand pays this year so far (and lost it all back). There's no way I will get anywhere close to itemizing over the 2024 married standard deduction of $29,200. So I'm SOL. I'll have to pay taxes on my $4700 hand pays?
Not sure on married, but as a single filer $4700 would be enough to make me itemize. My itemized deductions start at $10k (the cap on state and local taxes that can be deducted). Dunno if you get double the cap married filing.
Basically, yes. If you can't offset the wins by itemizing or you don't keep a log and use the session method of accounting. One thing to keep in mind though is that the Standard Deduction is much higher than it used to be. In 2016 for married it was only $12,700 (although you could deduct more stuff then, so it was easier to get to a point where it made sense to itemize). So you're taking $15,000 more off the top from the get-go now, for a lot of people that more than makes up for not being able to offset $4,700. Although it's also not quite as simple as that for everybody. It still sucks, but this has been in place for 7 years now, nobody should be getting caught unaware. Plenty of people changed their play habits to avoid handpays when it went into effect.
Had to clean a lot of tax discussion that leaned into Political Opinion zone and away from the actual topic if this thread.
As far as state taxes go are jackpots won in NV usually taxed by your state of residence as opposed to the state you won them in?
The only reason I itemize is because of my W2-G's. I also take deductions for mortgage interest, real estate taxes, sales taxes and charitable contributions but those would be less than the standard deduction. It is actually a PITA to enter all of the W2-G's into my tax return. I know there has been talk of increasing the level at which a W2-G is required to about $5,800, which would pretty much eliminate all of my W2-G's and I would be able to use the standard deduction. Let's hope it gets approved.
Thanks Sonya. Almost EVERYONE agrees the tax law make no sense and it is what it is. In the meantime, we have to deal with what we are dealt. (pun intended) With W2Gs, you have these options. A - Include them as income and if losses plus other itemized deductions help you out, then claim losses. B - If W2G plus itemized are still less than standard deduction, then you pay taxes on that income. Sorry. C - If your losses are such that you really did not have any winning income, then "session reporting" will help. (State issues are separate and vary widely by state)
Just sat down to do my taxes and realized I left two W2G s in Vegas. So mad at my self. I called both casinos and there is a process to get copies, but it is like 4-8 weeks. Has anyone lost their W2G before? And does anyone have a less time consuming way to deal with the situation? Thanks for any advice! Hope everyone is raking in the jackpots!
You can wait until July when your tax transcript posts to the IRS website, some people do that anyway to make sure they aren’t missing any 1099’s, although you are supposed to report all income.
I will keep it simple, if you file a short form there is no way to write off loses against hand pays correct.
I'm not surprised, considering this just fairly recently changed in 2017-2018. I believe the board admin should consider just banning these "taxes related to W2-G's" threads. The only good advice in these situations is to consult an experienced, qualified tax preparer. No offense to anyone here. But random people on the internet is NOT where anyone should go for tax advice.
*Not financial or legal advice* Want to be able to make more deductions? Start your own business *Not financial or legal advice I will not be responsible for anyone getting audited by the IRS or suffer any other legal consequences* Btw I was semi seriously looking into becoming a "professional gambler" to write off more of my Vegas day trip related expenses. WAS looking ... More so when I had some significant wins reported. But that is no longer an issue as I am so deep in the red now
Interesting topic. There is SO much misinformation on taxes going on out there when it comes to gambling. Like some on here said its best to consult a tax advisor. The funniest myth I have seen though is many many people seem to believe that if you lost more than you won (let's say for example you have 100k in W2Gs and you lost 150k), that if you itemize its just a write off and you owe no taxes on it. Hahahahaha if only it were that simple. In many cases most will STILL owe taxes because that's not how the IRS works. A "professional gambler" will get a pretty good break on his taxes but that requires an exceptional detailed record of EVERY single win and loss in the case you were to get audited. Anyway God bless the IRS. Haha. And yes I really hope they increase the taxable jackpot threshold to 5.8K. Would solve many headaches for both casinos and players.......
Based on some of what I have read and heard - going to a tax advisor is often NOT the best advice. (but may be good in some cases). I have seen so called professionals demand a copy of each and every W2g and a gambling log to fill out their taxes. Not really needed. I have seen so called professional that have no idea what "session reporting" is. I have seen folks that have professionals tell them to not bother reporting their wins. The list goes on. By the way, if you list $100k in W2g and then itemize $100k in losses, it does work that way. Personally, I have had many $50+ years in W2g and written off the matching amount. No issues with IRS at all.
