Can I Write My Lottery Losing Tickets Off If I Have Saved Them During The Year?Prev TopicNext Topic

• joyceepoo

  

  United States
  Member #120,276
  December 15, 2011
  35 Posts
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  Jan 26, 2012, 10:36 am

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  LOL...not I am not professional yet. I started playing the lottery on Jan. 2 of this year.  Started buying scratch offs after Christmas but stopped when I won $200 on the first day of playing Cash 4.  But you make a good point here.  When the cashier handed me the $200, I noted that those who win $600 or less do not have to pay taxes on it.  But those who win $700 do have to pay taxes.  I asked the same questions you did.  This is what I came up with: the reason we don't have to pay taxes on the amount given to us by the cashier is because they don't have time to ask all the winners to fill out a form and then have the hassle of keeping up with all the paperwork on every single win.  Plus, the fact of people like myself who would not want a store clerk or any complete stranger to have a shot at my social security number.  And being that the millions of wins  fall into the category of $1 to $600, the Lottery staff gets to turn their head the other way (courtesy of Uncle Sam) and not deal with all of that paper work.  This is just my take on it.
• TheRightPrice

  

  Orlando, FL
  United States
  Member #115,780
  August 28, 2011
  259 Posts
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  Jan 26, 2012, 12:19 pm

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  Yes Joyce, you can.

  But you have to win first.

  THEN you can DEDUCT the cost of losing tickets against the taxes of your win.

   

  Good Luck!!

   

  If you don't win at all, then yes it is a total loss.
• rdgrnr

  

  100

  The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee
  United States
  Member #73,902
  April 28, 2009
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  Jan 26, 2012, 12:35 pm

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  In response to garyo1954

  Quote: Originally posted by garyo1954 on Jan 26, 2012

  With 16 dependent deductions for hound dogs those lottery tickets would be a drop in the bucket.

  Dadgum straight!
• rdgrnr

  

  100

  The Hall Of The Mountain Kings Tennessee
  United States
  Member #73,902
  April 28, 2009
  15,378 Posts
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  Jan 26, 2012, 12:38 pm

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  In response to kapla

  Quote: Originally posted by kapla on Jan 26, 2012

  I thought I read somewhere here in LP that he had at least 1 kid in each state?

  Not EVERY state.
  
  Nope, not all 57 of 'em.
• Stack47

  

  Kentucky
  United States
  Member #32,651
  February 14, 2006
  10,301 Posts
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  Jan 27, 2012, 2:42 pm

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  In response to joyceepoo

  Quote: Originally posted by joyceepoo on Jan 26, 2012

  LOL...not I am not professional yet. I started playing the lottery on Jan. 2 of this year.  Started buying scratch offs after Christmas but stopped when I won $200 on the first day of playing Cash 4.  But you make a good point here.  When the cashier handed me the $200, I noted that those who win $600 or less do not have to pay taxes on it.  But those who win $700 do have to pay taxes.  I asked the same questions you did.  This is what I came up with: the reason we don't have to pay taxes on the amount given to us by the cashier is because they don't have time to ask all the winners to fill out a form and then have the hassle of keeping up with all the paperwork on every single win.  Plus, the fact of people like myself who would not want a store clerk or any complete stranger to have a shot at my social security number.  And being that the millions of wins  fall into the category of $1 to $600, the Lottery staff gets to turn their head the other way (courtesy of Uncle Sam) and not deal with all of that paper work.  This is just my take on it.

  "And being that the millions of wins  fall into the category of $1 to $600, the Lottery staff gets to turn their head the other way (courtesy of Uncle Sam) and not deal with all of that paper work.  This is just my take on it."

  Losing tickets are proof of gambling losses and the IRS would have to count every one of them. Can you imagine if millions of lottery players handed IRS agents shoe boxes full of losing tickets?

  BTW, welcome to LP!