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Craps 101 what you need to know about
Alternatively called as ‘Hazard’, craps has been here since centuries. Now the game has been brought to the visitor’s PC. Being rated as one with the most odds, craps has been a popular bet among gamers. The game is full of tricks and one needs to...

Find Many Cruise Deals That Suit Your Personal Style And Needs!
Finding Cruise Deals are half the battle when considering a cruise vacation! In order to maximize the value of your cruise, it's a good idea to do some research and find out what type of cruise ship is right for your personal needs, and the Internet...

Slot machine basics
The first slot machine came into being in 1895. Since then, they have witnessed not much of evolution. While early slot machines contained three spinning wheels with a symbol, one of them being the jackpot figure, in modern machines the number of...

The Fine Print Behind Online Gambling Bonus Offers
If you have never opened an account with an online casino, poker room, or sports book you may be wondering if the bonus offers are legitimate. We are all aware of the wisdom in the sayings, “If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is” or...

Video Poker - Choose the Best Machines
There are three basic types of video poker machines: * Jacks or Better * Deuces Wild * Jokers Wild To keep things basic, we recommend you play only the Jacks or Better machines. The payouts are usually better and the draw strategy is more...

 
Gambling Income and Expenses - Taxes

Hit a big one? With more and more gambling establishments, keep in mind the IRS requires people to report all gambling winnings as income on their tax return.

Gambling income includes, but is not limited to, winnings from lotteries, raffles, horse and dog races and casinos. Unfortunately, gambling income also includes the fair market value of prizes such as cars, houses, trips or other non-cash prizes.

Generally, if you receive $600 ($1,200 from bingo and slot machines and $1,500 from keno) or more in gambling winnings and your winnings are at least 300 times the amount of the wager, the payer is required to issue you a Form W-2G. If you have won more than $5,000, the payer may be required to withhold 25 percent of the proceeds for Federal income tax. However, if you did not provide your Social Security number to the payer, the amount withheld will be 28 percent.

The full amount of your


gambling winnings for the year must be reported on line 21, Form 1040. If you itemize deductions, you can deduct your gambling losses for the year on line 27, Schedule A (Form 1040). You cannot deduct gambling losses that are more than your winnings.

It is important to keep an accurate diary or similar record of your gambling winnings and losses. To deduct your losses, you must be able to provide receipts, tickets, statements or other records that show the amount of both your winnings and losses.

Face it, the IRS gets you coming and going. Well, I’m off to play poker.

About the Author
Richard Chapo is CEO of Business Tax Recovery - Obtaining tax refunds for small businesses for overpaid taxes. Discovery tax strategies and deductions in our tax articles section.