Tulsa Gamblers Preparing for Tax Season

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, every penny earned by gambling has to be reported on your tax return but there is always a way to make up some of the gambling losses in this tax season.

If luck smiled on you and was on your side in 2014, you will have to report it to the IRS, the US government agency responsible for tax collection and tax enforcement. According to CCK Strategies CPA, Jeffery Fable if you gamble at the casinos, depending on how much you won on the slot machines or card tables, the casino could have already reported your winnings to the IRS. Of course, the odds are never in your favor if you gamble at the casinos but if you were able to win some money, your winnings might offset some of your losses on your tax return.

Fable said that the slot machines and bingo are more than $1,200 and Keno winnings are more than $1,500. He also claimed that if you are in a poker tournament and you have winnings over $5,000 the casinos are going to issue the W2-G. W2-G form is used to report the income and withholdings related to gambling. You will receive the W2-G form if you receive:

• $600 or more in gambling winnings and the payout is at least 300 times the amount of the wager (except winnings from bingo, keno, and slot machines)
• $1,200 or more in gambling winnings from bingo or slot machines
• $1,500 or more in proceeds (the amount of winnings less the amount of the wager) from keno

Fable said that those who gamble and don’t fill the W2-G form could get a letter from the IRS and if they don’t see it on your tax report, they will send you a communication and automatically assume that you have no deductions and will assess the full amount of tax on those winnings.

You can’t deduct gambling losses if they are bigger than your winnings but for example if you spent $5,000 gambling last year and won $3,000 you could deduct $3,000 as an itemized deduction.

It is important to keep an accurate record of your gambling winnings and losses or, as Fable advised, if you don’t have all gambling documentation you can look the expenses up on your credit card or debit bill. If you are a frequent gambler and have a player’s card, the casino might help you to find missing information.