Comments on: How Are Gambling Winnings Taxed?

By: Randall Clift

Randall Clift — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 19:07:04 +0000

I recently received a letter from the IRS, reminding me I owe. When I return the letter in agreement, what basically takes place. Just thought I would mention, I have been declared disabled,as of Feb 2013, as a result of Parkinson’s and could’nt tell you what has happened the last 5 years. Apparently, the drugs that I have been taking have contributed to much of my problem. Requip, Sinamet,etc. Any thoughts. Thanks. RC

By: dustyn mattes

dustyn mattes — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 22:29:50 +0000

Hello, I live in Washington state but won slot machine winnings of 1494.00 in Oregon. In Washington we don’t do state tax filings. But in Oregon they do. So do I need to file a Oregon state tax?

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 21:06:05 +0000

I live in Texas and won a slot jackpot in Oklahoma. They gave me a W2G, but they did not take any taxes out because their computer was down. Do I have to file a return for OK and if so which return?

By: mrrooster

mrrooster — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:09:00 +0000

My tax person made an error and listed my losses as my winnings. The state of California doesn’t care as long as you lose as much as you win. My tax person did deduct my loses to match my winnings. I wouldn’t care except the Federal Tax goes by my gross income for taxes on my ss and medicare.That error showed my gross income $700.00 more than it was and I owed IRS $1,483.00. How much did I over pay the IRS because of my tax person’s error? I sent the check to IRS before I noticed his error!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:46:12 +0000

I am not looking at your tax return but I would bet that your total winning put your income into a higher tax bracket. The deductions are not calculated until a total income has been determined. Therefore, even though your losses were the same as your winnings, your tax burden percentage did not change. Gotta love our tax system. I would contact turbo tax to insure that this is in fact correct.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:40:35 +0000

MS Christina,
The 25% is a base they are required to take. The taxable rate is based on your total winnings, your income and any other income you may have had. I am not sure what the current tax table is but you may have been charged 28% instead of 25% based on that total income.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:30:07 +0000

Contact the Casino. They are required to keep a copy on file.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:29:28 +0000

Ed, The casino only gave you one W2G, therefore, they have only notified the IRS of one person winning. The only way around that in the future is to create a gambling club and having the club be responsible for the winnings. At this point the person who received the W2G will have to be responsible for the taxes on this winning. Because only one person can claim the winning, the IRS could charge the other two recipients a “Gift” tax for their portion of the winnings. So I would be very careful who you tell about the winnings and how the taxes were done. Put something in writing that this was a mutual collaboration that the winnings would be split three ways. Just between you and I, I would have all parties sign it and date it the day before you won. But you didn’t hear that from me. Good luck

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:16:40 +0000

Girish,
Just because they did not deduct any amount does not mean you are not responsible for taxes. I could be wrong but my understanding was that up until recently “table” gambling was not taxable. However, now it is. I would hold back the 25% federal and what ever your state tax is for your own safety. Last I checked here in Michigan it was 4.35%. However, keep in mind that you can deduct the $5000 you invested. Congrats on the winning.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:12:15 +0000

Good thing you paid for the insurance. Lets hope they back it because as far as I know there is not “sessions.” I have been researching taxable income for winnings now for several years and this is the first I have herd of it. I would also consider getting a new tax person. Good luck.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:49:10 +0000

I live in the state of Michigan. My losses far exceeded my winnings. I have been told that for the past couple years there is a law that states that you can claim you are a casual gambler or the gambling can be called sessions, and your wins are limited to the amount you walked out of the casino with (after subtracting the amount that you brought into the casino with). This can be written off from the Michigan state taxes owed. However my tax person failed to put my total amount of winnings on line 21 for my federal return and now I am being audited because of it. I have given her the information from the IRS and she keeps writing to them saying I am a casual gambler, but when I get the response back & take it to her she says she can”t put that amount on line 21 or it would carry over to the state taxes and I could not do the “sessions or casual gambler” Have you any answers for me? have been doing my taxes with a reputable business & bought a “peace of mind insurance” and need to see this thru with them, however the IRS is saying I owe them $5888.00 & then they would report it to the state & I would owe them an additional amount. This is for the year 2010 & the taxes were done the same way for 2011 & my tax preparer says I can expect to go thru the same thing for 2011. Do you have any knowledge of this “sessions” or casual gambling?

By: Girish

Girish — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 21:34:43 +0000

Hi ,

Recently i went to casino and Gambled for the CRAPS table by investing 5000$ and i won 10,600, They have asked me the SSN and driving license i had given to them and they didnot provide me any Tax form and they didnot deduct they payed me back 10,600 . Should i need to file the tax for next year else what should i do next step !

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:42:57 +0000

Three of us each put in $100 and won $6,000 on a slot machine, but the casino would only give us one of us a W2G form showing the winning of $6000. Actually the winning was $2,000 per person. Is there anyway we can each get a slip for $2,000 rather than having the one person getting charged for the entire tax. As we each live in seperate states it will make a difference on how we pay the tax

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:21:48 +0000

What if you lost your WG form the casino gave you?

By: gz

gz — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:51:13 +0000

If I live in Texas, where we do not have state tax returns, but won around 1,200 at a casino in New Mexico where they do file state taxes, do I have to file a state tax return? (state income tax withheld is 0 on W-2G)

By: ebony

ebony — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 16:31:03 +0000

i won $1800 in vegas in april 2012 at a slot machine..no taxes were taken out at the time of winning. the casino gave me a receipt, which i have since lost. how do i go about claiming this on my taxes when the casino has yet to send me a w2G form or 1099? is it required for the casino to send this?

By: sarah

sarah — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 06:23:53 +0000

if i won 2692.00 at the horse track and im going through turbo tax where in turbo tax do i input those wages ?????

By: billyinlasvegas

billyinlasvegas — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 22:41:54 +0000

As someone that works in a casino I can tell you there’s some inaccuracies in this article.

First of all the only way you’ll receive a W2G from playing a slot machine is if you win $1,200 or more from a single spin (so winning 2 $600 jackpots does not get you a W2G). If this happens the machine will stop and you will be paid on the spot and give a W2G (don’t worry you’ll also get one in the mail). Also no taxes will be withheld unless you ask the casino to do so.

The same goes for table games but you have to win $10,000 from a single bet.

Lastly any transaction over $3,000 is recorded and any transaction over $10,000 is reported to the IRS. This used to be known as Regulation 6 now known as Title 31 it’s to prevent money laundering.

One last thing, I think you meant to write Slot machine not Slow machine.

By: Ms Christina

Ms Christina — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:36:18 +0000

I won $10,000 on a scratch off had the 25% taken out when I file my return my refund is less once I enter my W2-G, I don’t understand this

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 19:29:55 +0000

Using TurboTax why do winnings claimed from a 1099-G reduce the refund amount even if identical losses are claimed?