Importance of A Diary For A Casino Players In USA

Many winners in gambling or casinos find themselves in a predicament around April when taxes are being remitted. The Internal Revenue Service needs all the casinos to submit to them in a report winning of more than one thousand two hundred dollars for video poker games and slot machine games and other games too like lottery or racing or betting on horses and keno.

The IRS requires the casinos to report any wins over $1,200 on slot and video poker machines or other games such as keno lottery or hose racing. Usually when a person wins a prize worth one thousand two hundred dollars or more an officer from the casino will hand out a form from the IRS. In USA this form is called the W-2G. The form would have the winner's name, social security number and his place of residence. The officer from the casino who gives the winner's money will ask the winner for his identification cards first. This is the reason you should always carry a valid form of identification with you when you visit the casino.

Another copy of the form will be given to the Internal Revenue System and the winner should show his own form when he files his tax. In most states of the USA there is a law that permits the winner to subtract the previous losses from the tax amount of the amount won. The person will only be able to have this done if there actual documentation. The best way of documenting winnings and loses is to keep a notebook or a diary where each win and loss is written down.

A good documentation of each win and loss should have the following: 1. the name of the game played and the machine's serial number. 2. The place where the game was played and the actual date. 3. Note the losses and the wins for every game played. 4. Add the other evidences you have while playing the game.

The diary should be one hundred percent accurate and it should have all the proper details. Most players like carrying the notebook or the diary while they are in the location of the game in most cases the casino. Then they usually log it in another file they typed in their own personal computer.

Another good tip is to ask a certified public accountant about the necessary information before filing tax when winning and losing in casino games. Players who don't keep a diary or documentation usually regrets it when they get a huge win in another session because they cannot prove the previous losses hence the winner ends up paying the complete amount of the taxes when he could have deducted the losses. The good thing about keeping a diary of the games played is that it gives the person a good accounting of the money spent and realizes which games has more profitability.