Are Gambling Losses Tax Deductible?

If you were wondering this: are gambling losses deductible? The short answer is yes, they are, but only to the extent of the amount you win through gambling. It’s important to report all the money you win and make it a taxable income on your return. This is only available if your deductions are itemized. If you fail to do that and only claim the standard deduction, then your tax won’t reduce by your gambling losses.

You have to keep a log of all your winnings and losses on a wide array of gambling options, including lotteries, raffles, casino games, poker, sports betting, horse and dog races, and more. Each record should contain the following:

• The date and type of gambling activity you engaged in
• The name and address of the place where you gambled
• The people you gambled with
• The amount you won and lost during your gambling session.

You’ll have to provide some of the documents to prove your losses, including Form W-2G, Form 5754, wagering tickets, recipes from the casino (or any other gambling facility you took part in), and even canceled credit cards and checks.

Therefore, we provided an answer to the question: are casino winnings taxable? As you can see, the answer is also yes. 

What Amount of Casino Winnings Are Taxable?

There’s a flat tax for all gambling winnings, which is set to 24%. There are some exceptions when gambling winnings higher than $5,000 are subject to income tax withholding. This mainly includes sweepstakes, lottery, and wagering pool, as well as any wager where the proceeds are equal to or higher than 300x the wagering amount.

What Casino Winnings Are Taxable?

The answer to this question is pretty straightforward: all casino winnings are taxable. Therefore, anything that you win as a result of gambling, be it $5 or $5,000, needs to be reported in your tax return under the “other income” section.

Even if you win a prize that’s not in cash, such as a car, or a holiday, you’ll have to put that on paper by stating the fair market price for your reward.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, gambling winnings are taxable, and gambling losses are subject to a tax deduction if you keep track of all your winnings and losses. This may be a difficult task, as people who go to casinos usually don’t carry their pen and paper around, writing down every single win. The good news is that casinos keep track of everything for you. This is even easier with many new online casinos, as you can easily track all your gambling activities when playing games online.

Like with every task, there are a couple of exemptions where taxes and deductions work a bit differently. If you’re unsure about anything, make sure to have a chat with a financial professional and learn more about taxing gambling winnings. Alternatively, you can visit the official IRS website and find more information about this.