Tax deductions for bingo? One of five strange IRS write-offs.

[BingoT]

Tax deductions for bingo? One of five strange IRS write-offs.


Tax deductions … er, income taxes are on Americans' minds as the April filing deadline approaches. Here are five of the more offbeat tax deductions the IRS allows you to include. Hey, maybe you even qualify!
#5 Bingo and other gambling losses
So you didn't bring your A-game to the bingo hall this year? You have a bruised ego and a bruised wallet. The IRS gets it — enough is enough! Go ahead and deduct your bingo losses, you're allowed. You can deduct the amount you lost last year, up to the amount that you won. Just make sure you have a detailed diary of your winnings and losses (scribbles in the margins deriding competitors are optional).
The Internal Revenue Service allows taxpayers to deduct losses for other types of wagering, too. They must keep a detailed diary of the kind of wager, where they placed it, who they were with, and how much they won or lost.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/031...eductions.php3

[irishgilly]

Wow, that's wild! Now how would one write off their losses on online bingo losses, or casino losses for that matter. I mean, it's supposed to be against the law- so how in the world is it that u can deduct losses? Very weird. Sounds to me like a way to entrap or incriminate ones self. I, for one, all ready do not trust the irs-( I mean my ex-husband was a revinue agent with the irs for several years, and he is about as creepy as irs agents go- as a matter of fact, it was a pefect job for the s.o.b.) and I believe that if u r deducting gambling losses you are calling unnessary attention to your self. Can u spell audit? This is just plain freaky. Sounds like some kind of loop hole pushed through by a creepy group of republicans so that they can deduct enormous sums of money and get away with it. A way to launder dirty money? I don't know, but my gut instinct is screaming at me to leave this one as alone as possible.

[footdr]

Bingo is not considered a skill game by the IRS and therefore is subject to same tax considerations as any online gambling tax laws.

Worldwinner is the only skill game site I know for a fact reqested an IRS tax ruling. The ruling requires WW to report winnings(but not net winnings, which would mean reporting winnings minus losses) $600.00 and up. So only people that itemize their deductions can report their losses to offset what WW reports as winnings.

This is problematic for individuals that are on government assistance or participating in Government programs based on "Income". Although they may not have actually made a profit, the 1099 income reported by WW can kick them into a higher tax bracket causing them to lose SS benefits or other government benefits based on gross income.

Therefore, only those that can win enough to make-up for the entitlement losses or those that itemize and can show losses equal to the amount of income reported on WW's 1099 and zero it out; should play for cash.

This applies to any site ruled by the IRS as a "skill games" site. Bingo is not.

By the way, I believe WW is not a true skill game site as the IRS describes. They must have provided false information to the IRS inorder to get this ruling.