@Opus 17 wrote:
"Am I doing this properly"?
Yes, the schedule A itemized deduction is the only way to deduct gambling losses. If you don't have enough other deductions to already be itemizing (like mortgage interest, property and state income taxes, and gifts to charity) then you will not get the full benefit of the losses. That's how it works.
Maybe explain that to your wife.
Let me expand on this.
The standard deduction in 2024 for married filing jointly is $29,200.
Suppose you have $10,000 of itemized deductions (state and local taxes, gifts to charity, mortgage interest). You should take the standard deduction, because it is more.
Suppose you have $10,000 of other itemized deductions and $15,000 of gambling losses. You should still take the standard deduction of $29,200 because it is more than $25,000. Turbotax will do this automatically. You should not manually force the program to take the $25,000 itemized deduction. But this means you don't get any monetary benefit from including the losses—you can't add the full amount of gambling losses to the standard amount.
Suppose you have $10,000 of other itemized deductions and $30,000 of gambling losses. You should itemize and claim $40,000 of overall deductions. Again, you don't get to deduct $29,200 plus $30,000, so you only get a partial benefit of the gambling loss deduction.
