For anyone who has used schedule C and is familiar with Mayo vs Commissioner, times are a changing with the new tax proposal. Reference IRS AOD-2011-06 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-aod/aod201106.pdf
Issue: Are expenses incurred by a taxpayer in the trade or business of gambling
“losses from wagering transactions” subject to the limitation on deductions in § 165(d) of
the Internal Revenue Code?
Conclusion: We agree with the court’s analyses. Section 165(d) limits the deduction for the
wagering losses of persons engaged in the trade or business of gambling. However,
§ 165(d) does not limit deductions for expenses incurred to engage in the trade or
business of gambling. Those business expenses are deductible under § 162.
New proposal: https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1/text/ih?overview=closed&format=xml
SEC. 1305. Limitation on wagering losses.
(a) In general.—Section 165(d) is amended by adding at the end the following: “For purposes of the preceding sentence, the term ‘losses
from wagering transactions’ includes any deduction otherwise allowable under this chapter incurred in carrying on any wagering transaction.”.
(b) Effective date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017
So for any schedule C filer who had the misfortune of enduring a losing year, the ability to carry a loss over to AGI for non wagering related expenses is gone. And with the increase in the standard deduction the benefit gained from itemizing losses is going to require a much higher hurdle to realize, not to mention you still get dinged by many states that do not have a gambling loss deduction. Furthermore the removal of SALT deduction will add insult to injury on those non deductible state taxes from gross winnings.
Definitely not a gambling friendly tax bill.
SB