ErnieS0
Expert Alumni

Get your taxes done using TurboTax

@rdtamayo0215 Yes. Your wins are considered income even if you never withdrew any money from your account. It's the same as keeping money in the bank and letting it earn interest, but never making a withdrawal. The interest is still taxable.

 

Your net winnings are taxable (amount won - your wager). You may be able to deduct losses, up to the amount of your winnings, as an itemized deduction. You cannot net your winnings. However the IRS does allow you to report net winnings on a per session, rather than a per wager basis.

 

For example, suppose you visit a casino on Monday and put $500 on your casino card. You quickly win $2,000, but keep gambling until your balance drops to $1,500. The next day (Tuesday) you lose your remaining $1,500.

 

You cannot net Monday’s gambling winnings against Tuesday’s gambling loss to report $0 of gambling income because the win and loss occurred in different “sessions” (days).

 

However, your net gambling win includes the difference between the $2,000 jackpot and the $1,500 you walked out the door with. You only pay tax on the end of session gain ($1,500 - $500 original wager).


Bear in mind the IRS may come calling if you report $1,000 of gambling income and the casino reports a $2,000 jackpot on Form W-2G. The IRS may ask for detailed, contemporaneous records proving your income. Taxpayers have lost court cases over poor or inadequate recordkeeping.
 

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