John wrote:
- quote -


Presumaby, you mean W-2G.

I got interested in all this when I learned of an acquaintance who
claims to have figured out how to find slot machines at local "indian
gaming" casinos that tend to pay out, and he claims to have brought home
many tens of thousands of dollars in winnings per year, only a fraction
of which get reported to the IRS.

Looking at the W-2G instructions, apparently slot machine winnings are
reported only if you take home more than $1,500 (after reducing by
wagers) -- and that's a per-event thing, apparently. If you were to win
any number of $1,499 jackpots, nothing gets reported to the IRS!

And, of course, this acquaintance doesn't report any gambling income
that didn't get reported on a w-2G.

Now, I realize that the vast majority of gamblers are not taking home
net winnings, else casinos would not exist. Nevertheless, I have to say
it galls me that tax reporting for winners is set up this way.

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John wrote:
- quote -

were they using that for the value of all the free drinks they provided
to keep you happy while wagering?

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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"John" wrote:

- quote -

It's not the casino's job to track your gambling activities and accurately
report them on your return. It's your job, and you failed in 2006. What's
more, if you also claimed the EIC for 2006 it was likely erroneous since you
had $20,000 of unreported income.

You can read about gambling winnings and losses in IRS Publication 17. The
1099-MISC was probably reporting comps. The casino evidently has its own
problems becausee it didn't properly withhold and report on Form W-2G (not
1099-G).

Bundle up your 2006 records and find a low-income tax clinic where they can
sort this out for you. If you wait for the IRS to catch you, you can lose
your right to claim the EITC.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

Also, the form from the casino that stated I had 600.00 in income was a
1099-misc. form - not the 1099-G form I was expecting.......


"John" <jonndaeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppeeeeeeeeed[at]comcast.net> wrote in
message news:9LudndoYauWfxQzanZ2dnUVZ_t-nnZ2d[at]comcast.com...
- quote -

<< ------------------------------------------------------- > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts > << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy > << are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. > << ------------------------------------------------------- >

In 2006 I won 20,000 in handpaid jackpots playing slot machines. The
jackpots ranged from 1200.00 to 4000.00 though unfortunately I ended up
giving it all back and I have a statement from the casino that I did indeed,
lost much more than I won that year.

So, a year ago I am expecting this form to be sent to me and the IRS about
theses gambling winnings and at the end of January I got the form from the
casino and all it stated was I won $600.00 and they were going to notify the
IRS about that. It's been a whole year and I still haven't heard anything
else from the casino or the IRS while still collecting the Advance Earned
Income Credit which I can fairly claim because I have two qualifying
children.

So my questions are:

What do you think happened as to why I didn't get the form from the casino
that showed all those gambling jackppots?

And, If the IRS "did" somehow get the information wouldn't I know it by now?

And, if this truly was a paperwork error by the casino how long before I
truly don't have to pay taxes on those jackpots (I never have anything held
out of jackpots) if the paperwork error is corrected and the IRS finds out
about it (if ever).

Thank you in advance for any advice.

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