1f. Re: Quarter progressives and taxes
Date: Sun Aug 3, 2008 6:12 am ((PDT))
First of all, my apologies; I think my previous post didn't change the subject line from "digest # whatever". Sorry.
I think what I do is OK:
I record the session win/loss on my log, and reference it if there was a W2G associated with it -- e.g., with your example, session is $600 win, with a note that this includes the $1200 hand pay on the W2G dated 00/00/00 at 2400 hours (or whatever other way you identify it in your documentation).
Unfortunately, at least for me, it's not that unusual to have a long session with a W2G and still book a loss, and certainly common to book a win that's less than the amount of the W2G!
The case of your friend is the extreme, and most of us don't have that volume of our money confiscated by the government until we get our refund -- but certainly, for those who are in that situation, it's a bummer.
I don't do parimutuel betting so don't know the applicable withholding rules. I know they tried to put something in place about withholding on poker tournament wins of $5,000 more than the entry fee, and ended up with an agreement that these wins would generate a W2G, which previously was not issued at some casinos, and was at others.
--BG
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i dont know about others but the w2's are a pain! you must report
$1200 as a win. otoh if i get up 1200 in increments and then drop
back down to 600 i have a net session win of 600 which i log. the
1200 never is a concern to me or the tax man. but a 1200 w2 has to be
listed as a win. it makes no difference if i only cleared 600 in that
session. i speak of a legit session 4 hours at same machine for
instance.
it is even worse for pro parimutuel gamblers
parimutuel w2s reported at $600 and withholding after a $5000 keeps
many great handicappers cash broke as early as september depending on
their wins and bankroll until refund time. i have a close friend that
maxes out many gold cards with cash advances until he gets his up to
2 million refund in feb.or mar. needless to say jan 1st he does his
taxes and mails them jan 2. a big portion of his tax refund was his
money to begin with the govt. used his money for 3 to 15 months as
their cashflow. after 3 years in a row in the early 90's of tax
audits the irs has not messed with him since. he keeps perfect
records and knows his tax laws.
i could be missing something here, and would be very appreciative if
someone would point out my fallacy. we need to get a PAC for gamblers
and make congress better understand our perspective. my proposal of
course, is to tax only net wins in a year period minus some needed
deductions.
thanks for listening,