Online Gambling Wins Must Be Reported

February 8, 2009

A lot of people are under the mistaken impression that if they are participating in online gambling and they happen to win, they don�t have to report the winnings. Many of them say that because the government is trying to keep them from online gambling that they should not have to report wins. Of course, the Internal Revenue Service disagrees and wants players to know that they expect their cut of online gambling activity.

It doesn�t matter what version of online gambling you participate in, it is still important to realize that it is expected that you will pay. Online gambling winnings are one of the things that the IRS says is most left off of tax returns. You can also claim losses, but you have to keep a notebook with detailed descriptions of what you lost, when, where, table numbers, etc. for otherwise they don�t acknowledge it.

The IRS assumes that anytime you participate in online gambling that you win, so you have to keep track so that you can show them how you have lost as well. According to the IRS, something as simple as winning an office pool should be reported, but they are not nearly as concerned with something like that as they are with online gambling and live casino gambling as well.

With online gambling they have the ability to track it through credit cards, so it looks as though you are playing, even if you are not winning. By keeping detailed records of your playing, you will also be keeping detailed records of your losses allowing you to keep some more of your winnings.

 

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