Taxes 2024

I'm no accountant, but since it was cash for that much, I'm fairly sure they were incorrect. Most people say they want prizes this size in freeplay to avoid things like tax withholding.

An of course, you're supposed to pay taxes on any prize, form given or not.

 

It's hard to tell.

If you didn't have to do anything to get the entry, then it's a 1099-Misc. I don't think they'd be required to give it to you on the spot, you might get it late this month.

If you got an entry by earning points by betting, then it may be a W-2G.

Either way, it's almost certainly taxable and not offsettable by gambling losses.

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/taxes-on-prize-winnings/

 

At Foxwoods before the pandemic I won $1500 in a slot tournament, collected prize from cage and didn't get a 1099 or a W-2, I asked and they said they didn't know anything about it. Fast forward to January of following year and I got one in the mail and I had to think back and realized it was for the slot tournament win. You might get something by end of January/Early Feb still.

 

Yeah the blurb I posted makes it sound like that would fall under a W2-G, not because of the amount, but because you had to gamble to get an entry. If you won $50 it would be the same conditions. I have to admit I don't really understand the logic behind it being a W-2G instead of a 1099-Misc.

And in that case, the amount of your wager supposedly would be itemizable, but how would you ever figure out what amount(s) that was if you were playing a slot machine? All of your bets during the hour you got called? A single bet, if so, which one?

 

The reason it's not a W-2G is presumably because it wasn't 300-1. The W-2G thresholds are $1200 for a slot machine, $5000 for a poker tournament, $1500 for a keno game, and then $600/300-1 for everything else. In addition, withholding can be required, but only when a win exceeds $5000, so if it was exactly $5000, you're in the clear (and that may have been why they picked that number). But as @djvcr experienced, it's possible for paperwork to come later, especially because I'd assume that anyone qualifying for the spin would have been in the players club system.

 

I won a random drawing of $2000 from a small casino in Oklahoma during Cinco De Mayo last year. Unlike the larger casinos that have electronic W2 and 1099s, they used paper copies. I called recently to ask--as I've won cash before at the larger casinos in the pick a prize type drawing and it was anything $600 and over and you get the 1099 immediately--and they said the 1099s didn't print til the end of January and I could pick it up or wait for it in the mail.

 

If you typically use your players card, I would check your win/loss statement to see if it shows up on there.

 

For one thing…the casino reports everything, I’ve been burned in the past with this before. I ended up paying taxes on it. @44inarow is spot on though. Next time ask for a TITO, that’s what I ended up doing.