JH hints again that changes to loyalty program changes are coming

[BlerkOne]

Just now, Stick93 said:

You gamble? From your posts it doesn’t look like you are one of those people “gaming” carnival - but if you are I hope you win big in the casino and with a free room. 
 

IRS is looking for the big fish! 

I have been known to gamble, but I do so for entertainment. I don't bother notifying the casino, they know when I cruise. 

 

I get emails almost everyday about free rooms but have little interest in the cabins or cruises offered. I often have casino discounts on cabins I book and always more than I might have lost or will lose. Yet the offers keep coming 

[Stick93]

42 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

I never mentioned wins and losses.  Also, it is impossible for a causal gambler to record losses in a way that will pass an audit.  

Carnival could give you a wins/loss statement at the end of the year. The 1099 they give you when you win big on the slots it’s just as good and excepted  

Edited July 23 by Stick93

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, aborgman said:

 

You don't think they should, even if it maximizes profitability?

I think it all about balance as opposed to maximize this or that, but that is just me.

Edited July 23 by jimbo5544

[kwokpot]

8 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Carnival could give you a wins/loss statement at the end of the year. The 1099 they give you when you win big on the slots it’s just as good and excepted  

That's not the records the IRS requires or expects if one is audited. You need to show session by session how much you wagered and how much you won and lost. How you define a session is up to you. It could be each time you change a slot machines,it could be hourly,it could be daily. But it needs to be consistent and detailed.

[Elaine5715]

14 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Carnival could give you a wins/loss statement at the end of the year. The 1099 they give you when you win big on the slots it’s just as good and excepted  

No, it is not.  A w/l statement is not a tax document. 

[Elaine5715]

52 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

You gamble? From your posts it doesn’t look like you are one of those people “gaming” carnival - but if you are I hope you win big in the casino and with a free room. 
 

IRS is looking for the big fish! 

It is far easy to collect taxes and fines from many little fish than one big fish who can afford an attorney

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 7/18/2024 at 9:41 AM, Old Fart Cruisers said:

You can now use your ONE free drink per cruise at any time on Carnival.  WOW!  On Royal, you get 4 free drinks per day at just 80 days and 5 free drink per day at 175 days.

they're bribes I've heard

[kwokpot]

17 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

No, it is not.  A w/l statement is not a tax document. 

For those that are interested in this topic, I can post some information on what my husband and I do. I'll give you a small snapshot of our 2021 return that I was able to quickly find and snap a pic. This is Schedule 1, additional income and adjustments to income. The supporting documents are uploaded to our accountant's portal,so I can access that tomorrow when I have more time. It will show what our recorded keeping is to substantiate the deduction/adjustment you see below

Line 8B is the total amount of W-2Gs we received that year. Line8Z is the calculated losses based on sessions record keeping.

Edited July 23 by kwokpot

[hard_eight]

Trigger warning!

[BlerkOne]

Cheaper taxes and fees

 

[RoperDK]

21 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

I never mentioned wins and losses.  Also, it is impossible for a causal gambler to record losses in a way that will pass an audit.  

It's called a win/loss statement and every casino offers them.  

[BlerkOne]

9 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

It's called a win/loss statement and every casino offers them.  

Win/loss statements are estimates and depend on a player's card being inserted all the time while playing or a pit boss watching every play.

[RoperDK]

20 hours ago, kwokpot said:

For those that are interested in this topic, I can post some information on what my husband and I do. I'll give you a small snapshot of our 2021 return that I was able to quickly find and snap a pic. This is Schedule 1, additional income and adjustments to income. The supporting documents are uploaded to our accountant's portal,so I can access that tomorrow when I have more time. It will show what our recorded keeping is to substantiate the deduction/adjustment you see below

Line 8B is the total amount of W-2Gs we received that year. Line8Z is the calculated losses based on sessions record keeping.

This is very interesting.  The couple of times that I have had a hand pay, I just got my win/loss statements and deducted the losses to reduce the taxes owed.  We don't itemize federal anymore but do use itemized for state.  It seems like a full-time job to keep track of gambling sessions.  We are small time gamblers.  Once our daily budget is gone, then we find something else to do.   

[Elaine5715]

51 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

This is very interesting.  The couple of times that I have had a hand pay, I just got my win/loss statements and deducted the losses to reduce the taxes owed.  We don't itemize federal anymore but do use itemized for state.  It seems like a full-time job to keep track of gambling sessions.  We are small time gamblers.  Once our daily budget is gone, then we find something else to do.   

 

 

 

 

Edited July 23 by Elaine5715

[kwokpot]

44 minutes ago, RoperDK said:

This is very interesting.  The couple of times that I have had a hand pay, I just got my win/loss statements and deducted the losses to reduce the taxes owed.  We don't itemize federal anymore but do use itemized for state.  It seems like a full-time job to keep track of gambling sessions.  We are small time gamblers.  Once our daily budget is gone, then we find something else to do.   

As with most everything that you put in your Federal tax return it doesn't matter how you arrived at the numbers until you are questioned by the IRS. If you are questioned either with an initial inquiry via a letter, as we were, or a full audit what you say you do to arrive at the amount you need to pay taxes on will not hold up. 

[Elaine5715]

4 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

As with most everything that you put in your Federal tax return it doesn't matter how you arrived at the numbers until you are questioned by the IRS. If you are questioned either with an initial inquiry via a letter, as we were, or a full audit what you say you do to arrive at the amount you need to pay taxes on will not hold up. 

My tax guy who is former IRS says no non professional gambler has ever had a gambling deduction hold up.  It is always disallowed, resulting in taxes and fines.  

[kwokpot]

9 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

As with most everything that you put in your Federal tax return it doesn't matter how you arrived at the numbers until you are questioned by the IRS. If you are questioned either with an initial inquiry via a letter, as we were, or a full audit what you say you do to arrive at the amount you need to pay taxes on will not hold up. 

Here's a screenshot of my husband's cell phone record keeping for his gambling. He defines a 'session' as a day of gambling. At the beginning of each year he takes these cellphone records and creates a spreadsheet for the whole prior year to figure out what he determines as winnings minus losses. Additional records includes a marker from the casino, photos of the slot machines, ATM receipts. 

[jimbo5544]

51 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Here's a screenshot of my husband's cell phone record keeping for his gambling. He defines a 'session' as a day of gambling. At the beginning of each year he takes these cellphone records and creates a spreadsheet for the whole prior year to figure out what he determines as winnings minus losses. Additional records includes a marker from the casino, photos of the slot machines, ATM receipts. 

My stomach just rolled.....😰

[ngrund]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

My tax guy who is former IRS says no non professional gambler has ever had a gambling deduction hold up.  It is always disallowed, resulting in taxes and fines.  

Your guy may be referring to taking a deduction (as in business loss) off of ordinary/other income, like you would for a stock capital loss that exceeded capital gains.

 

kwokpot's husband is deducting his (documented) losses from the W-2G totals for the year, and still reporting additional income.

 

[hurricane0226]

can I just get my free bloody Mary in the morning when I am hung over from gambling.

[kwokpot]

7 minutes ago, ngrund said:

Your guy may be referring to taking a deduction (as in business loss) off of ordinary/other income, like you would for a stock capital loss that exceeded capital gains.

 

kwokpot's husband is deducting his (documented) losses from the W-2G totals for the year, and still reporting additional income.

 

Correct. He does not consider himself a professional gambler. That was discussed with our accountant and we determined that was absolutely not the way to go.

 

As an addendum which would be germaine to this offshoot discussion as a couple we have decided to cutback the amount of gambling, both land-based and cruiseship gaming. We actually cancelled four comped cruises that we had planned for September,  November, and December. We left in place a Holland America cruise planned for January, which is also a casino comp certificate from a land casino. We had an amazing run. Living in Philadelphia we are only one hour away from Atlantic City and being retired we had all the time to take advantage of the casino complementaries from all sources. But I think the novelty of it all has run its course. 

 

[Elaine5715]

26 minutes ago, ngrund said:

Your guy may be referring to taking a deduction (as in business loss) off of ordinary/other income, like you would for a stock capital loss that exceeded capital gains.

 

kwokpot's husband is deducting his (documented) losses from the W-2G totals for the year, and still reporting additional income.

 

No, same thing.  Gambling losses.  His point was the causal player cannot document losses to offset a taxable win.  The causal player assumes the win/loss accumulative totals is sufficient or they start asking people for losing lotto tickets.  The IRS and professional gamblers   know to document

Edited July 24 by Elaine5715

[StephPS79]

On 7/22/2024 at 8:18 PM, IntrepidFromDC said:

Holy moly is right, favorite neighbor!  I see you're in VA Beach.  Please let me know next time you're cruising out of Baltimore, bar buddy.  😁 🏴‍☠️ 🍹

 

We'll actually be going out of Baltimore September 2025!  Unfortunately, I'll still be a little shy of Platinum, unless we a book a few more free rooms and my ability to collect loyalty points hasn't been revoked between now and then.  I'll keep you posted on that drink voucher, it's got your name all over it!  😆

[aborgman]

14 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

No, same thing.  Gambling losses.  His point was the causal player cannot document losses to offset a taxable win.

 

 

Yet I know non-professional gamblers who have claimed losses to offset taxable wins, been audited, and had it hold up.

 

So I personally know at least one person that proves your accountant wrong.

[jsglow]

I get a nosebleed if I'm down $20. I avoid nosebleeds.