icft

Like minds here. Except for Journeys cruises we generally sail NCL now. That means the loss of the $25 doesn't much matter to us. But we did chuckle when we saw this. It is typical Carnival. Almost all the "temporary changes due to covid" that reduced cost to Carnival and service to the passenger were permanent while the temporary change that had a cost to Carnival and benefit to the passenger truly was temporary.

Ketchup? Most don't care. The difference is you don't mix ketchup with your good bourbon. I will always plant my flag on the hill of "bourbon and Coke" over bourbon and Pepsi. (One of the smaller reasons we mostly sail NCL now.)

No, you have prepaid. You will also note that the bartender will not give you a paper receipt to sign. So there is no "nudge" line on the receipt to add a tip. If you want to recognize especially noteworthy crew members note their names, pass by guest services, get "hero cards," and fill them out and turn them in. NCL has an incentive program to reward crew who provide notable service.

If TxTeach79 was trying to get away from middle school on this cruise he has failed miserably; what with anus and now this? 🫣

They're looking for that lady...

Now you're depressing me.

Ours has never said "Please Cover Up"...

They're joking. That little slot in the top? It's an ad. They're not saying drop your drugs, they're saying "there are drugs to be had here."

AM radio? I am back in middle school😄

Are we back to anus again?

That's what makes it a Sid review...

I feel like I'm back in middle school again...

Promises, promises...

Just don't kiss him...

If the Prima repo was the recent one out of Galveston April 5th we were also on that cruise. In the over 40 cruises we've taken it was the our favorite cruise. Jonathan (Dr. Bong) and Guillermoe at the Metropolitan bar were incredible. They made many of my drinks on the tops of their heads.

"Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women, man."

Someone pointed out to me a point of possible confusion. Some may have noticed that in the headlines about the tax court case cited above it is said "that they could not net their wins and losses across the year" while the Office of Chief Counsel legal memorandum AM 2008-011 does allow for deducting losses from sessions other than the winning sessions. The difference is that in the tax court case the taxpayers were arguing that the losses from other sessions in the year could be netted with the winning session to determine INCOME. The tax court rejected that saying"...their gambling losses are allowable only as itemized deductions. But because petitioners have elected the standard deduction, they are not entitled to itemize their deductions." The legal memorandum notes "A casual gambler who elects to itemize deductions may deduct wagering losses, up to wagering gains, on Form 1040, Schedule A." So the headline is a bit misleading. The tax court and the legal memo are in agreement that IF you itemize you can deduct your losses up to the amount of your winnings for the year. For reference, the tax court decision: https://bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Endnotes/TC_Memo_2009-306.pdf

If you are referring to post #14, that is not a ruling but rather a report in the Journal of Accountancy concerning a tax court decision. If you are referring to the Office of Chief Counsel legal memorandum AM 2008-011 then you will find it here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/am2008011.pdf and it does not define "session." Also note that it is advice, not a ruling. At the top it states "This advice may not be used or cited as precedent." It is the kind of thing generated by legal when asked by the field agents for guidance on the handling of an issue. It is not a law or regulation and therefore bears no weight in support of an IRS position, though its existence does allow an estoppel argument against the IRS (it is a sword that can be used against the IRS but not by the IRS).

Unless you are talking bankruptcy. There is a reason for separate corporate subsidiaries. 😇

While I agree that for most folks, including me, the effort of documenting everything is not worth the gain, I think you are overstating the difficulty. For example, there is no need to document the exact slot machines on which you lost on each spin. To quote part of the article linked below: "The IRS in 2008, and later clarified in 2015, created rules for deducting gambling losses called gambling sessions. The idea was a gambling win wasn’t really a true win until the session was completed. The Tax Court ruled it is impractical to record each and every wager (pull of the lever, deal of the cards or throw of the dice) and therefore wins and losses can be tabulated for each gambling session versus each hand of cards played, et cetera." See: https://www.wealthyaccountant.com/2018/12/18/deducting-gambling-losses-with-the-new-tax-bill/ But even that stuff isn't worth it for me. I gamble for fun, not to keep records.

Neither is the hospital bill you use to back up your medical expense deduction, but it is a starting point. For the full drill, most of which one can get from the win/loss statement see: https://www.idealtax.com/win-loss-statement-taxes/

First, unless you are a professional gambler you can only deduct gambling losses if you itemize your deductions and then only to the extent of your winnings: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc419 As for keeping track of your winnings and losses, on Carnival you can request a win/loss report at: https://oceanplayersclub.com/contact/win-loss-report/