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January 25, 2006
Wait a Minute Big Guy! We Can't Deduct Our SWILL!!
So how do you get off by being a big loser?
Gambling losses: If you won big in Las Vegas, you have to pay taxes on your winnings, but you can offset some of your gains with gambling losses. "People don't realize that their gambling losses are deductible," said Hockenberry.
I wonder how much that little loophole has cost us.
Posted by tree hugging sister at January 25, 2006 02:53 PM
Comments
No loophole, it's perfectly reasonable to deduct gambling losses against gambling winnings. If you pump $100 into a machine and finally hit a $100 jackpot, you shouldn't have to pay taxes since you didn't really make a profit.
What you cannot do, if I understand the tax code correctly, is to deduct gambling losses against any other income. I don't know for sure since I've never won or lost enough for anyone to care.
Posted by: Ken Summers at January 25, 2006 07:25 PM
Ken got the law right, as far as I remember it from my one basic tax class. Now, admittedly, it was my one allowed pass-fail during law school. God, how I truly hated every single moment of that.
Posted by: Dave J at January 26, 2006 02:06 AM
People don't realize that their gambling losses are deductible
...to the uneducated SOUNDS like you can just add the $400 you dropped in Biloxi to your other deductions. Since I never win anything (nevernevernever) it appeared to be a gift from the Government Gods. Which I would rather have applied toward alcohol, if we had our druthers concerning deductible vices.
Guess not.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at January 26, 2006 09:47 AM