Should California tax ALL forms of casino gambling wins over $600 within the state?
Sіnсе wе′re officially taxed over $600 іn California State Lottery winnings whу nοt include аll winnings frοm table games, slot machines, video poker, аnd electronic bingo (Class II) аѕ well? Excluding winnings frοm non-profit games.
The state already taxes the casino heavily, it would be redundant to tax the players. It would also be ridiculous. People go to have fun. Usually they lose. Once in a while they win. God forbid someone gets to keep all of his $700 in winnings after losing $1500 the last time he played. Or that a slot player gets to keep a $2,000 win after losing $25,000 in the past. On the other hand, if someone wins 700, next time he plays he’ll lose it all back and the casino will be taxed on the 700 anyway.
Right on, huckleberry. Why stop at $600? Why not give every gambler an electronic card that they swipe? EVERY time they win a bet, they are taxed on it! So they win $10, but they only get to keep $8. The next spin they LOSE $10, but they don’t get any refund from the state!
This example sounds ridiculous, but truly – at what point to you stop and say, “No! It’s too much to tax every little bet.” Is it at $10? $100? $600? Like huckleberry said, if they taxed people every time they cashed in for $600, they would be taking a tremendous amount of money out when it may not be fair to do so.
I buy into a poker game for $600 sometimes. Let’s say I win some, then lose some, then win, then lose. After 3 hours I decide I’ve had enough, and I’m dead even. Now I go to cash in my chips and although I didn’t win or lose ANYTHING, I owe the state money because I’m cashing in $600 worth of chips!
They make you fill out a form in a casino when you cash out for $10,000 or more. Most of the time that is reasonable, but for some folks, they are getting screwed for the same reasons I described above. If these folks start with $20,000, but cash out for $15,000 should they be taxed because they cashed out for 15K?!?!?
Technically, all gambling winnings are subject to state and federal income tax. If you win $1 at a casino, you are legally required to report it as income and pay taxes. The only difference is that they are taking the taxes out before paying you on lottery payouts of more than $600. You really have no reason to complain, unless you’re a criminal tax evader who doesn’t report their winning the rest of the time