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spongebob293

new york
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June 6, 2007
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Jun 10, 2007, 12:21 am

50 -60 tickets a week adds up to alot of little pieces of paper that become garbage i save my losing tickets in a shoebox and recycle them every six months.
justxploring

Wandering Aimlessly
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Jun 10, 2007, 12:33 am

Yes - for a year. No, I don't have 50 or 60 tickets a week, but I do save them in a shoebox.
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
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Jun 10, 2007, 12:41 am

Yup, one year here, also- ever since I read that losing tickets by themself aren't enough proof for taxes if you get lucky enought to have winnings that you want to write off losings on. (I read it here, I think RJOh posted it).

So it's a shoebox for the tickets and a journal for how much was spent on them day by day.
Then if that's not the case and nothing hits the on the Dec 31st tickets, I shred them all and think, "What a pizza party or trip to thre bookstore that could have been".
I don't have anything close to 50 or 60 tickets a week, either, if I have 10 it's a lot. I've even had times where I played the pick 5 for 5 drawings at a time just so as not too have as many tickets.

Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.

There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
Ms. Pat

Fayetteville, Georgia
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Jun 10, 2007, 12:53 am

yep in case I ever win big for tax purposes
Raven62

25

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Jun 10, 2007, 9:56 am

Quote: Originally posted by spongebob293 on Jun 10, 2007
50 -60 tickets a week adds up to alot of little pieces of paper that become garbage i save my losing tickets in a shoebox and recycle them every six months.

Sounds like a job for a 32-gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck Trash Can.

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BevsPicks2

EAST COAST, USA
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Jun 10, 2007, 10:04 am

Quote: Originally posted by justxploring on Jun 10, 2007
Yes - for a year. No, I don't have 50 or 60 tickets a week, but I do save them in a shoebox.

Absolutely! For the tax period involved. If I have a win during the year then I can offset some of the income by the losing tickets as an itemized deduction. If I have no significant winnings by the year end then I throw them away. The tickets are only good for the year in which you have a win to offset the losses.
JAP69

South Carolina
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November 4, 2001
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Jun 10, 2007, 10:07 am

I stack my losers on my desk.
When and if I get a hit I pull out the tickets that equal the dollar amount I won.
When the stack starts getting high like right now I knuckle down to find a hit.
I have about a 1 inch high stack now with various dollar amounts on each ticket.
If I total the dollar amount of losers now I might

Numbers are where you find them.
babyneeds$

GA
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May 10, 2007
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Jun 10, 2007, 10:34 am

In Georgia and Michigan the "lottery funds go to education. If I don't win, how come I can't just write off my donations as charitable contributions? This is my 1st year playing, so I'm saving mine in a old suitcase, just in case the "Tax Man" says I can write them off in this manner.
I'm gonna hit big! So, I guess I better save as many as I can find! LOL
WHATEVER baby wants, baby gets!
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
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Jun 10, 2007, 1:06 pm

babyneeds$
" If I don't win, how come I can't just write off my donations as charitable contributions? "

Because those tickets had the potential of winning they're not a direct 'donation'.

Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.

There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
justxploring

Wandering Aimlessly
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Jun 10, 2007, 1:31 pm

Babyneeds$ - I like your way of thinking!! I wish it were true, but Coin Toss is correct IMHO. Nobody will let you write-off a lottery ticket as a donation to charity.
Regarding keeping a ledger, Coin Toss, I've read that's important to do. The IRS knows that it's easy to gather a bunch of scratch-offs out of the trash. However, like Jarasan wrote on another subject, less than 2% of returns are actually audited. It's just that once you raise that red flag, you will be branded, so it might be best to have some proof other than a box of tickets. On the other hand, I believe my tickets would be proof enough since they're mostly online games (not instant tickets) I buy locally at the same 3 or 4 stores every week. I would challenge the IRS if they didn't accept them, and I doubt if they'd want to watch all those videos from the store security cameras.
Yukio

Brazil
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April 24, 2007
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Jun 10, 2007, 4:18 pm

A person could make artesanal works with lottery tickets and clue ...
Coin Toss

Zeta Reticuli Star System
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Jun 10, 2007, 6:49 pm

justxploring
Far better to keep a journal if you wind up needing one than to wish you had kept one.
In tax matters our legal system kind of reverses - the burden of proof falls on the accused - if the IRS says they don;t think you played all those tickets, you don't have a journal of daily play, it's up to you to produce one or somehow prove they were indeed all your tickets.

Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners.

There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
pacattack05

United States
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June 22, 2005
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Jun 10, 2007, 9:24 pm

I donate all my losing tix to the nice gentlemen who take away my garbage.
It's a dirty job, but some one's gotta do it...
mr twentyone

freeport bahamas
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September 10, 2006
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Jun 11, 2007, 8:40 pm

Quote: Originally posted by spongebob293 on Jun 10, 2007
50 -60 tickets a week adds up to alot of little pieces of paper that become garbage i save my losing tickets in a shoebox and recycle them every six months.

did that one time, and let me tell you,, dont ever add them up,, i was saving them in a bedroom drawer for about three years,,,then one day i said its storming out side,, let me add these up to see what iv spent,, so i grabbed a handfull and started adding away,,,,,,do you know what a $70:00 doller a time habit does to you and at twice a day,, sometimes three times a day,, i got up to $40,320,00, after that i stopped adding, my whole afternoon was thrown out of wack'' but im too deep in the hole to stop now,, i figure with $10. bucks on a play four or $15 on a good day then i will quit,, i would keep working for the man ,, but i will keep my percentage to go with what i have then,, but dont ever add them up,, throw them out first,,,,,trust me
pacattack05

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June 22, 2005
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Jun 11, 2007, 9:18 pm

Quote: Originally posted by pacattack05 on Jun 10, 2007
I donate all my losing tix to the nice gentlemen who take away my garbage.
It's a dirty job, but some one's gotta do it...

Just joking....LOL
What I really do is mail the losing tix back to the Lottery Office, and they promptly give a refund for them.
It's a win win situation....!

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