Turbo Tax and Reporting Poker Income

[mwgr5]

I'm finishing my taxes using turbo tax. I am not filing as a professional.

I enter my poker income in the other income/gambling section in tubo tax, and right away the program asks me for my losses and says that they will go over deductions later. When the income section is finished though, it looks like it entered my Net winnings.

Has anyone used turbo tax to file their poker taxes, because this dosen't seem right but it could be? I'm not exactly sure how this program works.

[cardcounter0]

taxpayer: I won $50,000 playing poker.
turbotax: Yeah, but how much did you lose?

[Kevmath]

If you go into Forms Mode (Forms/Show My Return), look for a Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions statement. That will show your gambling losses (line 29 of the Misc. Itemized Deductions statement), and the figure will also be on line 27 of your Schedule A.

[S0meGuy]

[ QUOTE ]
taxpayer: I won $50,000 playing poker.
turbotax: Yeah, but how much did you lose?

[/ QUOTE ]

NH Sir! Still laughing... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[mwgr5]

Thanks.

[JD2WSOP]

What if you do not want to itemize your poker losses and keep the standard deduction? (Need help w this kinda urgent - filing right now)

[frozzor]

u can't unless u file as a pro, that's why playing poker sucks.

[SGspecial]

[ QUOTE ]
u can't unless u file as a pro, that's why playing poker sucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

This may be too late to help the OP, but my understanding is that any INCOME from gambling (poker included) is taxable but any LOSSES must be deducted as part of miscellanious deductions so you have to exceed 2% of AGI for you to get any money back. I'm not sure exactly how they treat expenses directly related to a particular win, for example:

you win $25k in the WSOP ME
your BI was $10k (out of pocket)
your travel and other expenses were $2k (out of pocket)

How much do you have to report as "income"?

[dave6]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
u can't unless u file as a pro, that's why playing poker sucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

This may be too late to help the OP, but my understanding is that any INCOME from gambling (poker included) is taxable but any LOSSES must be deducted as part of miscellanious deductions so you have to exceed 2% of AGI for you to get any money back. I'm not sure exactly how they treat expenses directly related to a particular win, for example:

you win $25k in the WSOP ME
your BI was $10k (out of pocket)
your travel and other expenses were $2k (out of pocket)

How much do you have to report as "income"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Gambling losses are not subject to the 2% limit. See http://www.irs.gov/publications/p529/ar02.html#d0e2065. Click on "Deductions Not Subject to the 2% Limit" for the list.

For your WSOP example, one tournament would be one session (at least I would hope the IRS doesn't screw people based on the WSOP ME being a multiday event) so you report a $15k win. If you aren't a professional gambler, you can't deduct the $2k.