"bglazer Wrote:
If it was really a "sin tax", they'd tax you even more than the income tax rate, I would think -- but I hope none of them are reading this, I don't want to give them any ideas.<<
In Mississippi it is a "gambling" tax--that translates to sin tax; everybody pays and it's non-refundable.
However, calling it an "income tax" (tht's what they do in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and elsewhere) implies that it's net, not gross;after all, that's the intent of the legislation--to tax your income. On other forms of income you can write-off expenses, in this case your losses leading to the "win". I really don't see the line in the sand here. If we use their reasoning every dime you "win" is income and nobody could afford to play/pay-- clearly, that's the last thing the pols want.
Your post was very informative and I agree with most of what you're saying--I just think they're encouraging people to avoid too many W-2G's. Too much confusion on the definition of aggregate winnings--is it per machine, per session, per trip or per year? Tax laws should be as clear as possible and these just aren't. Linda
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