by Mark Pilarski

Don’t try to go blotto on me and forget to attach those W2-G’s along with your occupation’s W-2 form(s) because any single-win amount in gambling over $1,200, is required to be reported to the IRS by the casino. Luckily, you can offset the taxes on your win(s) by reporting your losses if you keep flawless records.

Gambling losses, so long as you itemize rather than take the standard deduction on your tax return, can be used only to counterbalance gambling wins during that same tax period. So even though your overall losses for the year are $4,700, to date, you can deduct only $2,700 of your total losses in the Other Miscellaneous Deductions section on your Schedule A.