Gambling Article

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has historically required that gambling winnings and gambling losses be separately accounted for. The reason for this has to do with the way gambling losses are deducted for tax purposes. Gambling losses are treated as an itemized deduction and reported on Schedule A of the individual income tax return (Form 1040). This creates a problem in the cases in which taxpayers cannot itemize (as is the case when a standard deduction is greater) or in which the taxpayer’s income exceeds a certain threshold (in which case the taxpayer loses part of their itemized deduction via a phaseout). In such cases the taxpayer does not get the full benefit of the gambling losses to offset against the gambling winnings. What the IRS is really after is the reporting and taxation of gross gambling winnings.

New Tax Rule:

According to a recent tax court case (Shollengerger, TC Memo 2009-36) taxpayers are allowed to net gambling winnings during a given day with gambling losses. This is a significant setback to the IRS. As an example, imagine if you were to win $2,000 in the morning at a casino and lose $900 later that afternoon. Prior to this court case, the IRS would require that you report the $2,000 in gambling winnings and then separately itemize the $900 in gambling losses on your tax return. The court instead ruled that the taxpayer in this case was permitted to net the gambling winnings for the day and report $1,100 as net gambling winnings instead of the $2,000 gross amount, the IRS mandated. The court went on to state that this “netting rule” only applied on a daily basis. It stated that a taxpayer could not net gambling winnings and losses for the entire year.

Irrespective of this change in reporting and taxation of gambling activities, there are specific accounting requirements for gambling activities. The IRS requires taxpayers to keep a diary or ledger of all gambling activities. This tax accounting requires the taxpayer to record the following information concerning various gambling activities:

1. Type of gambling activity

2. Location of gambling activity

3. Amounts won and amounts lost for every activity

4. Number of games played

5. Cost of Bingo cards purchased

6. Winnings for each Bingo card

7. Copies of Keno tickets validated by the gambling establishment

8. Copies of casino credit reports

9. Copies of casino check cashing records

10. Records of the number of races bet on (horse, harness, dog)

11. Amount of racing wagers

12. Amount of racing winnings and losses

13. Record of slot machine number

14. Record of slot machine winnings by date and time per machine

15. Table number played (blackjack, craps & roulette)

16. Table credit card data including where credit was issued

All of the above items can be supplemented by receipts, tickets etc.

Tom is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Financial Planner, CLTC (Certified Long-Term Care) and President of Cerefice & Company, the largest CPA firm in Rahway, New Jersey. Tom works with clients helping them manage their money, retirement planning, college savings, life insurance needs, IRAs and qualified plan rollovers with an eye towards maximizing tax benefits and minimizing taxes. Tom is founder of the Rich Habits Institute and author of “Rich Habits”.

Gambling is one of those increasingly common marriage problems that are often over looked despite over 50% of compulsive gamblers having been divorced. As with many bad habits, gambling has a real negative impact on family life with the habit often leading to serious financial problems as well as neglect of partners and children and sometimes proving to be a catalyst for abuse.

The National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported that more than 15 million Americans have a serious gambling problem often generated from boredom, a need for change, the adrenalin rush or as a result of marital or family conflicts. Gambling is becoming an ever increasing marriage problem and it’s a bad habit that has serious consequences with regard to family and personal life.

Very few people have any kind of understanding of the devastating impact that the gambling habit can have. Gambling is one bad habit that if it grabs a hold it takes over your entire life, wrecks you marriage, alienates your family, leaves you in financial ruin and destroys your life. Like alcohol abuse, gambling is often a root cause for domestic violence and child abuse. Gambling starts as just a bad habit, something that you do when you’ve got some spare time but it quickly worms its way into your routine and becomes and all encompassing and hard to break addiction that rules your life.

The escalating habit has been made worse with gambling becoming even more common as a result of the onset of internet gambling. There are now around 1,700 gambling websites all vying for business and just waiting to encourage more and more people into the regular gambling routine. Online gambling is a really bad habit to get into with the 24/7 access from the comfort of your own home, the loss of the sense of reality when gambling away money and the ease at which the gamblers can add more funds.

Research has shown that online gamblers are more likely have the most serious gambling habits / addictions and the families of those addicted suffering a greater intrusion into their everyday lives.

Terry Ross is the author on and the creator of: Common Marriage Problems, a site dedicated to resolving marital conflict.

Winning Big: Gambling is addictive. If you took a trip and won some cash, you might think you’re on easy street. But you’ll be in from a rude awakening if your earnings were not reported to the IRS. Yes, believe it or not, Uncle Sam wants a cut of those gambling winnings.

They want it all: So it’s established. The IRS wants to know every little detail about your income. That means if you win money from casino, report those earnings. And even cash prizes won from raffles, lotteries, and Sunday Night’s bingo round need to be reported. They are all considered income by the IRS.

Didn’t Report It: So what is the fate you suffer if Uncle Sam isn’t privy to your winnings? You’ll be in debt to the IRS. You’ll have to pay what you owe, plus interest and penalties if the debt was ignored for long enough. That means all that money you earned can be gone in a flash. Here are some methods the IRS may use to collect from you:

Asset Seizure: Already spent your winnings on luxury items? Now they’re in danger! If you ignore the IRS, the might come and seize the assets to satisfy your debt!

Bank Levy: The IRS can actually freeze your bank account! All the money will be gone in 21 days if you don’t contact them and work out a solution for payment.

Wage Garnishment: Payday’s here. But it’s an unhappy day for you if you owe the IRS. The IRS can legally seize a portion of your paycheck to pay on your debt. They’ll leave you with just enough money to pay for your basic needs. (Like buying food and keeping a roof over your head.)

Reporting Losses: The tables have turned. You can use the IRS’s rules about reporting gambling wins and losses to your advantage. You can deduct gambling losses. But the losses may only be deducted if you itemize deductions and you also have gambling winnings. To claim the gambling losses use Form 1040A. But keep in mind, the losses you deduct may not be more than the gambling income you report.

Don’t Forget: You have to prove it! You have to provide receipts, tickets, statements and other records to show both your winnings and your losses.

Playing it safe: If you are already in debt because of not reporting your earnings, there’s still hope. Don’t think you can get away with saying you didn’t know the tax rule. Because ignorance of the law is never considered an excuse. Instead, actively find a way to pay the debt off. If the IRS isn’t cooperating with you, consider hiring a tax professional that can help you pay the lowest amount possible.

Now You Have The Smoking Gun…Use it!

Richard Close was an IRS-Hitman. He worked as a revenue officer for the IRS and his father was the head of the collections branch for 30 years; so it runs in the family. He left that behind and now he’s partnered with Tax Defense Network to help thousands of Americans with their tax problems. He gives the tips and tricks for you to fight the IRS and win! Visit him at: http://irs-hitman.blogspot.com or http://www.taxdefensenetwork.com or contact: email irs-hitman@taxdefensenetwork.com or 1-888-248-9058.

While most people view gambling as an exciting form of entertainment, others view it as a terrible practice that is a waste of time and money. No matter what the various opinions are, however, there are actually people who gamble for a living. Are these types of people the luckiest people on the planet? Not at all. In fact, there is much more involved in gambling than most people realize. We will take a look at some of the main aspects of professional gambling and get some insight as to how professional gamblers make their living against the odds.

There are many forms of gambling, and it goes without saying that some forms are easier to profit from than others. For example, someone who is very interested in sports might find it easier to make money from sports betting than from playing blackjack at a casino. On the other hand, someone who is good with numbers will find it easier to profit from blackjack or poker. No matter what the game is there are several essential factors that need to be mastered and perfected, and luck is not one of them.

The first and most obvious factor of professional gambling is “Knowledge of the Game.” It isn’t enough to know a little about the game. It isn’t enough to know a lot about the game. You need to have a total and complete knowledge of whatever game it is you decide to play. You need to be a perfect player. However, in most forms of gambling being a perfect player will only give you a 50/50 chance of winning at best. You’ve no doubt heard of the dreaded “house edge.” If being a perfect player gives you a 50/50 chance of winning, think of what the odds are for 99% of the people that walk into a casino. They’re just there to have a good time, and their lack of knowledge puts them way below a 50/50 shot of winning. So if being a perfect player only gives you at best a 50/50 chance of winning, there has to be more to professional gambling. Right?

Bankroll management is easily the most important aspect of professional gambling. Your “bankroll” is the chunk of money that you use to gamble with. Not only do you need the proper amount of money, you need to know how to handle this money as things get hot and sticky. You need to know what to bet when you win, and what to bet when you lose. You can not approach a game with 50 dollars and expect to walk away with 200. You need to be realistic, and set realistic goals for winning. Most professional gamblers are happy with a 10% return. This sounds drastic to someone who gambles for the fun of it, but when it becomes a business things get both serious and realistic.

Discipline is also a top priority when it comes to gambling for a living. You need to know when it’s time to walk away. You need to be able to set a limit on your losses, and not go for broke like everyone else around does. Don’t let your emotions get the best of you. Gambling from day to day will involve swings both in the positive and the negative, and you need to be able to handle those swings without losing your mind or getting upset. Once your emotions override reason and begin to affect the way you play a particular game, you can kiss your money goodbye.

Experimenting with different systems can be very beneficial. Do your homework and figure out what works best. Learn to look for the trends in the gambling world. They are all over the place. No one can explain why trends happen, but they do. For example, flipping a coin gives a 50% chance of heads and a 50% chance of tails. And yet flipping that coin 1000 times you will see trends of results such as 4 heads followed by 2 tails, rather than an even heads and tails alteration. Don’t commit the “Gamblers Fallacy” and assume that because there has been 5 heads in a row, tails is more likely to come next. Each flip is independent of the other, and this is a big key in the gambling world. Most professional gamblers would advise you to follow the trends, not play against them.

These are just some of the basic factors involved in gambling for a living as a professional. If you want to see if you have what it takes, practice at a free online play money casino. Practice and perfect the big factors, such as knowledge, bankroll management, and discipline. Don’t make the jump to gambling for a living until you are sure you have what it takes to do it day in and day out. As it is said, “It’s a hard way to make an easy living.”

Collin Trenery. Make a living betting on sports by letting the professionals do all the work for you! Use the champion sports betting system to bet on sports! No experience required!

Mathematical Gambling Systems are something that have been occurring ever since one person said that they could predict the future better than another person, and since those days, it has come a long way indeed. People could bet on horse races, card games, dog races, spinning balls, and in one notorious case, the rate at which two raindrops would fall down the window pane!

If you are in a position where you are looking to move forward with your Best Gambling System and to make sure that you are going to be getting the right kind of result from your own bets, you have to be ambitious, and you have to be ready to come into your own in a tradition that is thousands of years old. Take some time and make sure that you think about what you want out of the gambling system of your choice, and while you are at it, look into what Betting Systems Great Gambling System can do for you.

When you think about it, there is a lot less to luck than you think when it comes to good gambling. You will find that when luck comes in and when it really favors someone that the results can be truly unexpected, but the truth of the matter is that nine times out of ten, there is definitely a component that skill has into the issue as well. In the first place, you will find that you are going to be in a great place to move on and to make sure that you are going to be getting the right kind of results.

You will discover that the more you learn about the game, the better off you are going to be, and while experience does inform this process, it is by no means the end all, be all. There are plenty of different things that you need to keep in mind when you play the game, and simply playing the game, after a certain point is not going to teach you much! Instead, you are going to have to find other resources to teach you, and this is where the Betting Systems Great Gambling System can come in.

When you are looking to see how useful the Betting Systems Great Gambling System is, you should think about your own personal play style. What do you have in mind when you are looking at getting Proven Money Making Gambling Systems, and what is going to be a priority for you when it comes to looking into Winning Gambling Systems? What are your goals, and what situations do you want to stay out of?

The truth is that there are as many different effective strategies are there are types of gambler out there, and if you are in a place where you are looking to move on to the next level, this is something that you need to consider for yourself. Consider what your options are and make sure that you think about your opportunities here. This is something that can go a long way for you, and consider your personal situation. Check out what this great resource can do for you!

Let Brian Garvin and Poker Pro Jeff West teach you more about 1000 Poker Chips and Casino Poker Chips at Poker Stars Direct. Use this article freely but please leave the Author Biography and Links intact.