True or False

Reply #12

justxploring — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 05:07:13 GMT

Lottery-Analyst

I've never won enough to make a difference, but this is good to know for future reference. I don't think I buy enough tickets for it to matter, but I never even thought about keeping a log. It definitely makes sense. However, let's say I play the same games using the same numbers every week. Wouldn't a shoebox full of losing tickets, all with the same numbers be a pretty good indication that I was the person who bought them

Reply #11

RJOh — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 04:08:54 GMT

You can write-off anything you think you can legally, it just if you get audited what you thought doesn't count, you need records to prove it.

I have a $2 planner in which I write all my lottery spendings and winnings. Tonight I entered MM/10/3 for 08/11 which shows I bought $10 worth of MegaMillions tickets on 08/11 and won $3( I had a 1+1 for $3). Below that notation I added $7 to the total I've lost this year and put it and my losing tickets in a box. I've kept the same type of recor... [ More ]

Reply #10

bellyache — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 03:46:12 GMT

I always thought that any tickets you had you could just right-off. I didn't know you had to keep track of them or anything. Thanks for the info John.

Reply #9

BobP — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:55:22 GMT

That's because the tax is in the ticket price, so everyone pays the tax for the winner. Certainly a more civilized method. BobP

Reply #8

Coin Toss — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 04:44:00 GMT

Income drops 40% coming in from Georgia or Alabama? That's scary!

Or Cuba

Reply #7

justxploring — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 04:03:34 GMT

Funny. There is a Sunshine Tax! When you cross the border into Florida where there's an average of more than 300 days of sunshine a year, your income drops about 40%! I call it the sunshine tax. I guess you can also call it a tropical depression.

Reply #6

Amazing Grace — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:29:03 GMT

Your right about that im afraid they will start a sunshine tax if solar power gets really going

Reply #5

JimmySand9 — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:24:42 GMT

Lottery winnings are probably the only thing Canada doesn't tax.

Reply #4

Coin Toss — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:06:54 GMT

John - LA

Good point. A lot of people getconfused on this. First, as has been posted, the rule is you can deduct lossses up to your winnings. People try to 'write off' a $2,000 win with $4,000 in losses - and they get those $4,000 in losses by scavenging lotto places, racetracks, Keno parlors, and sports books for losing tickets.

There's even been cases where people have won something reportable late in the year and then put together their collections of losers all in December or even t... [ More ]

Reply #3

Lottery_Analyst — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 17:53:56 GMT

Amazing Grace,

Please make note that you can't just keep your lossing tickets and deduct them from your winnings. You Must maintain a Lottery Tax Log in order to make it legit. Otherwise, if you get audited by the IRS they will just through out that deduction.

Check the IRS website at www.irs.gov if you have any other questions.

Thanks,

John - LA

Reply #2

RJOh — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 17:02:43 GMT

In the U.S. the tax payer is allowed a standard $4600 loss up front. A few years ago I matched 5of6 and won $1500 and I have over $2000 worth of losing tickets but I ended up paying an addition $250 for that win because my total losses including interest on credit, other expenses, other taxes and etc. and the $1500 I could deduct for losing lottery tickets didn't exceed $4600.

Since I could only claim losing lottery tickets up to amount I won, it would have been a different story had I won... [ More ]

Reply #1

CASH Only — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:29:06 GMT

Funny YOU started this thread. Canada DOES NOT tax lottery winnings.

True or False

Amazing Grace — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 16:18:05 GMT

If you have lottery winning, those losing tickets can get you valuable tax deductions. For instance, if you win $1,000, but have $600 worth of losing tickets, you can itemize those losses and only pay taxes on $400 worth of lottery winnings. Lottery losses can be used as deductions to offset winnings for the same year in which they were purchased.