There is no place to enter your losses on your Wisconsin return because it flows from your federal return. The same method is required to be used for both federal and state returns. Be sure to use the session method when entering your federal information for this to properly flow to your Wisconsin return. See page 9, under Casual Gambler (Nonprofessional) of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue Publication "Wisconsin Taxation of Gambling Income", click here.
Taxpayers who gamble casually in Wisconsin (professional gamblers will report their gambling winnings and losses on a Form Schedule C) will use the "gambling session" method to determine gains and losses for tax reporting. However, you do not directly enter gambling losses on your Wisconsin state tax return.
It sounds like you have documented your gambling sessions.
Your net gain or loss for each session is determined. The net gains from all winning sessions for the year are reported in your Wisconsin taxable income.
For sessions that have a net loss, those losses are not deductible for Wisconsin income tax purposes. In other words, your gambling losses will only reduce your winnings for sessions in which there is a net gain.
Also, you are not allowed to net your "total" losing sessions with your "total" winning sessions for purposes of figuring your Wisconsin taxable income.
There is a good example of how this works on page 2, under the section "Can I deduct my gambling losses in Wisconsin?", click here.
{Edited 01/27/2025|07:12 PM PST}
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