No, if your income, including your gambling winnings is below the threshold to file, you do not have to file just because you have gambling winnings. It is unlikely, but possible you could receive a letter that stating that you did not report your gambling winnings, but you can resolve that by responding via telephone or mail and letting them know your income is below the filing threshold.
Thank you for this response, very much appreciated. It makes relevant a follow-up question, which I probably should have appended to the original one.
Will the IRS consider my "winnings" to be the total amount won, without taking into account losses, or the actual profit? Say I "won" 15,000 but lost 10,000, leaving an actual income of 5,000. Which number, the 15K (winnings) or the 5K (winnings minus losses, or my actual return) will the IRS use to decide whether I've exceeded the threshold?
Yes, the IRS will consider the total amount won without taking into account losses or the actual profit. In your example, the IRS will use the 15K to decide if you exceeded the threshold.
Also, you can only deduct your losses if you itemize your deductions, If you take the standard deduction you can not deduct your losses.
The 2021 Standard Deductions are:
Thanks again for this informative and immensely helpful response. One final issue I have complicating my tax return: I have some incidental grant money, part of a larger sum awarded to me by my public college that exceeded the cost of tuition & qualified expenses by ~3k. Having reported my gambling income so that I'm only taxed on the profit, should I expect the excess grant $ to be taxed also?
You may have to file an income tax return if you have grant money and you are being claimed as a dependent. This is because a grant is considered "unearned income".
A student who is a dependent will file a return if: