“I got a letter yesterday from the State of Alabama Department of Revenue requesting: ‘Documents to show your gambling winnings and losses’. Thank God I read your book and have a detailed gambling log.”
—Henry Tamburin
The complete tax implications of winning and losing at gambling are pretty much a mystery to accountants, gamblers, and even the Internal Revenue Service itself. The IRS offers surprisingly few details to guide gamblers through the tax maze. Furthermore, what the IRS does say is often general, vague, open to individual interpretation, and contradictory; IRS publications and personnel often leave you with more questions than answers.
Tax Help for Gamblers deals with the innumerable nuances and gray areas of gambling and taxes. It covers all the whys and wherefores of this complex subject, including tax-code specifics, record-keeping, filing your tax return, state-tax considerations, audits and other tax problems—often citing relevant court cases to help you come to the proper conclusions. Numerous charts and forms help you with the practical application of the information.
This book is for recreational and professional gamblers, including low and high rollers, machine and table-game players, and video poker, live poker, online, international, and cruise ship players.
Do you know the answers to these questions?
| • | When must you show official ID in a casino? |
| • | When must you show your Social Security card in a casino? |
| • | How should you report the W-2Gs and 1099s a casino gives you? |
| • | Do you need a gambling diary if you have win/loss statements from all the casinos where you’ve played? |
| • | Are you safe from an IRS audit if you’ve received no paperwork from a casino? |
| • | Must you account for gambling wins on your tax return if you‘re a net loser for the year? |
| • | Can you get a refund for taxes withheld from a jackpot hit in a state in which you aren’t a resident? |
| • | Do you know about the big changes the IRS made as recently as 2011 that impact poker players? |
If you don’t, you should.
Whether you‘re a do-it-yourself tax filer or you use a tax professional, Tax Help for Gamblers is an indispensable guide to staying on the right side of the taxman.