I have never won the lottery. I haven’t won anything from a scratch-off ticket. I’ve never even won a raffle. The truth is that I have miserable luck when it comes to games of chance. That necessarily means that my gambling losses—from raffles and the lottery—have always exceeded my winnings.
While you never want to be out-of-pocket, even if it’s just a few dollars, that’s especially true when it comes to gambling and taxes.
Under Section 61 of the tax code, gross income includes all income from whatever source, including gambling winnings. That’s gross income, not net.
While gambling winnings ...