On Mar 7, 2015, at 12:05 PM, joel0457 joel0457@yahoo.com [vpFREE] <vpFREE@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
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>
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> I find it very strange that the focus on this board has been
> a proposed $600 limit which to me is just a pain in the ass
> and will be netted out using the session method and not the
> fact that the proposal leaves open the possibility of
> including the value of comps and freeplay when determining a
> sessions result.
>
The proposed changes would be devastating in terms of waste and therefore cost. First consider the already existing problems for most video poker players. There are many hours required to collect and then assemble all the costs associated with itemized deductions so one can claim gambling losses against gambling gains (w2g's). Second, there are potentially hours required to input the w2g's and itemized deduction info into the tax form, if you are using a commercial program such as TurboTax. Third, there is also the administrative cost for the casino, and loss of revenue as players sit waiting for their hand pays and w2gs. And this is not the worst of it. The worst of it is that you will then pay more taxes than you would have, if you had not received any W2G's at all, regardless of whether you won or lost for the year. The artificially high adjusted gross income can cause a higher threshold for the medical deduction and remove the ability to take advantage of tax credits or deductions, such as for educational costs, just to name a couple that effected me. Now consider this with W2gs for amounts between $600-1199. I suspect the number of W2Gs could increase 4X, and the amounts captured might double for someone playing denominations ranging between $ 0.25 and 1.00. As for using the "session method", I am not going to take the audit risk and would likely just quit playing or at a minimum would have to hire a CPA for an otherwise simple personal tax. Yes this is a big deal. Why is the IRS considering these changes? It is rather obvious revenue would increase drastically. Sadly, it would not be a tax not on winnings, but more a tax on recreational gamblers.
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Posted by: mdblack2002@yahoo.com
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