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Support for gambling losses

Hi, I received a form for my gambling winnings this year. It was quite a bit, but I know 100% that my losses were more than this. I’m planning to itemize these losses as deductions, but am nervous on my support for it in case IRS asks. 

I kept a manual log of all games I lost. However this is just on excel and not anything official.  Is this enough?  I can show my bank statements, but my losses were within the game over time - I would cash out when I decided to after many many games.  

I asked the company who sent me the revenue form for a win loss statement, but they are giving me the run around on providing this support to me.  Are they legally required to provide support if asked?  If they have my winnings, I know they also have my losses, or at least a record of what I played. Would a tax professional emailing them or a lawyer help this? 

any advice is very appreciated. 

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3 Replies
Vanessa A
Employee Tax Expert

Support for gambling losses

Yes, your excel spreadsheet along with your bank statements are enough to show your losses for the money you put in from your account. Are you able to go back and see a history of the times you let it ride and then lost it?  If so, that would be better support for those losses, however, the detailed spreadsheet may acceptable if the IRS has questions.  It is possible they would want more, but that would depend on the situation and their discretion. You do have the option of not reporting the losses that you incurred that you do not have supporting documentation. This would be the safer approach if you are worried about proving anything to the IRS, but it is possible that your spreadsheet would suffice with enough details. 

 

 In the future, it may be a good idea to take screenshots of when you let money ride so you have additional proof of losses. 

 

No, they are not legally required to send you your losses, they are only responsible for reporting your wins on the W-2G.  If they would provide the losses that would be a nice thing for them to do, but it is not a requirement.  It is your responsibility to track your losses.

 

As for someone emailing them helping, that may or may not help.  They may also just refuse to talk to anyone.  That is 100% up to them.  

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Support for gambling losses

Thanks!  No, I am not able to go back and see my activity in the app, it only goes back 30 days.  

So, I have my excel spreadsheet, but my bank statements would only show what I put in and what I took out, which is much less than my activity in app.  If my spreadsheet of the total net winnings / losses matches the withdrawals I got, would that be enough?  

I understand that the app doesn’t have to respond. However, would the irs reach out to them about my losses in case of an audit, or would I still have to do that?

LeticiaF1
Employee Tax Expert

Support for gambling losses

A combination of your spreadsheet and bank statements showing your withdrawals are enough to show your losses.  In case the IRS would ever question your losses, they would reach out to you, and you would be the one responsible to show proof of your losses.    

 

@An2425 

 

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