win/loss statement help please!

[vpbama]

I just received my first ever win/loss statement and really could use some advice. For many years I was a 25 cent player. Last year I discovered that 50 cent and $ were more to my liking.  Statement said net win of $19,515.00 and included (per my request) copies of my W2G's which were a total of $22,000.00. No federal tax out of any winnings were held. So my questions are basically.....how accurate is this because I was quite shocked at the net win?  Do I owe fed taxes on the $19,515.00, or the $22K?
 
Lastly-are their any advisors out there (CPA, etc) that can help me sort out my true winnings. Over the year I've written thousands in checks and I just cannot believe that is my true net win. 
 
Sorry for the rant but just really don't know how to proceed. Thanks in advance for all he feedback.

[Lucky Larry]

You must include your total winnings ($22K) as income.

Did your statement show "losses" or is your statement indicating you won only the G-statement money and lost only the difference between $22K-19515?

You can only reduce your wins by the amount you lost.

Is this the only casino you played during the year? You will want W/L for each and every casino you played especially if you are positive for the year.

I would recommend using Turbo Tax to electronically file since they can quickly take the info on each "G 2" which must be reported.

[JIMDUECE`SWILD]

I'm not a CPA.  You probably will have to pay taxes . " BUT " Did you play at another casino where you can get another win/loss statement where it will show a loss.Then you can deduct those losses also.Welcome to the forum ! !

[Tedlark]

  Well we know that the W2G's are accurate, especially if you kept a journal of your play. I am hopeful that you also have your copies of the W2G's that you were given at the casino at the time of the wins? Maybe not, otherwise you wouldn't have requested copies.
 
  You will  have to report the $22,000.00 as income. Did you gamble at more than one casino? Did you purchase any lottery tickets over the year that were losing tickets? You can deduct gambling losses only up to the total amount of winnings.
 
  The bottom line is that unless you can document losses that are equal to your $22,000.00 in winnings you will owe tax on the difference. If you go by the single win/loss statement that you referenced then you will be taxed on $19,515.00. But you must report $22,000.00 in winnings on your 1040 because the IRS will also have copies of your W2G's, courtesy of the casino.
 
  Good recordkeeping is a definite must when you are playing the higher denomination machines.

[ko king]

I just received my first ever win/loss statement and really could use some advice. For many years I was a 25 cent player. Last year I discovered that 50 cent and $ were more to my liking.  Statement said net win of $19,515.00 and included (per my request) copies of my W2G's which were a total of $22,000.00. No federal tax out of any winnings were held. So my questions are basically.....how accurate is this because I was quite shocked at the net win?  Do I owe fed taxes on the $19,515.00, or the $22K?
 
Lastly-are their any advisors out there (CPA, etc) that can help me sort out my true winnings. Over the year I've written thousands in checks and I just cannot believe that is my true net win. 
 
Sorry for the rant but just really don't know how to proceed. Thanks in advance for all he feedback.
I too am quite shocked at the net win, I've been playing for 20 years and have never had a year in which I truly won that much money. Does the win/loss statement show a dollars in and dollars out amount? The won/loss statements I recieve show a dollars in and a dollars out amount, for instance it may show $600,000 dollars in and $550,000 dollars out for a loss of $50,000, then it shows the total amount of handpays/W2G's, say that amount is $36,000. The total amount of W2G's $36,000 is then subtracted from the $50,000 for a actual loss of $14,000 at that casino for the year. On the surface it looks like you had a really good year (one I wish I would have) or somethings not right.

[olds442jetaway]

Technically, all gross winnings are taxable even those where no W-2G was issued. IRS rules are extremely complicated in this area and speak to " sessions". I'm sure everyone has a different idea of what a session is. Probably 90% of people or more just report whe W-2G amounts and take off losses accordingly from there. However, if you get audited and get asked if you had any winning "sessions" that did not include W-2Gs and you did, things could get sticky. The bottom line is gross gambling winnings are taxable not the net. Losses may be deducted from gross winnings, but hopefully you will have good records to prove them. Please do not take this reply as gospel. Check with your own tax advisor and or read up on the IRS regs yourself. This is just my opinion. Very important to do your own research.

[JIMDUECE`SWILD]

On Bob Dancer's radio show " Gambling With an Edge ". He interview Anne Freid-Lefton on Show #79 dated Aug. 9th on taxes. Go to www.bobdancer.com radio and download the show to listen to it. 

[BillyJoe]

The MINIMUM gambling winnings you will need to include on your tax return is the $22K that has been reported to the IRS by virtue of the W2Gs. You are responsible to show on your tax return all gambling winnings, but as was stated above, if there were no winning 'sessions', then the W2Gs that reflected the $22K is all that you need report.
 


During an audit of your tax return, should it occur, you need to be able to provide documentation to support any losses against that $22K that you choose to claim. This may include your casino-provided Win/Loss statement, copies of draws or checks made out to the casino, or a journal that you have kept regarding your gaming sessions. During an IRS audit, it is up to the IRS which, if any, of these forms of documentation will be accepted as evidence of the losses that you are claiming.
 
As my CPA always says, " you can claim anything on a tax return, until you are audited, which is when it has to be accurate and supportable in the eyes of the IRS". 
 
Is this a great country, or what ???  

[BOOPSAHOY]

Get statements from every casino you palyed at and that includes cruise ship casinos.

[vpbama]

 I want to thank all of you for your helpful responses. I knew that I had some nice hits throughout the year, but you can see I was a little taken back by the results of the win/loss. Please let me make sure I understand two things here.......
1.  The 22K in W2G is reported, but that amount minus the $19,515 are my losses I can report ($2485.00), therefore paying taxes on the $19,515.00??
 
2.  The $5K in checks I cashed throughout the year at the casino aren't counted as additional losses because that is part of the W/L statement??
 
The only part that continues to boggle my mind is the checks I've written....how to they play into all of this?