large number of forms - can I summarize

Technical topics regarding tax preparation.
#1
ShawnE  
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Client has a large number of w2g forms.. like 50
So many in fact he wisely asked (and paid) me to pull a wage and income transcript to ensure nothing was missed.
So - oddly - I dread entering all of these. I could more easily spreadsheet it.
Is it possible to enter one W2g summary and attach that part of the Wage and Income transcript?

Thoughts ..?
 

#2
JAD  
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Sounds awful. I think you have to add each one. If you are e-filing, I think not doing so will be a problem. Also, I think you want the computer to deal with things like excess FICA.
 

#3
sjrcpa  
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Are they all from the same casino/track?
 

#4
ShawnE  
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Sjrcpa - nope - now that I look. chunks in one casino and chunks in another.
JAD - they are W2gs - gambling winnings - welcome to Vegas baby LOL
 

#5
EZTAX  
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JAD - I do not think there is any FICA issue with gambling income.

I just summarize and put total if there is no taxes withheld. If taxes withheld I think you need to fill out separately.
 

#6
JAD  
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Agree. You can tell I am not from Vegas. I read OP as referring to W-2s, not W-2gs. I was reading too fast, I guess. Apologies.
 

#7
ShawnE  
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LOL - head over JAD - loose some money!! our state needs it :)
After all the dread - I realized that tallying it on a spreadsheet was going to be almost as much work as just entering them in.
so .. I'll report back on how many there were at the end. My record was 53 forms. I think this one will surpass it.
 

#8
ShawnE  
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yep - it wins 119 forms! AND part of the year was shut down. All Slots
 

#9
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Yes you can enter a summary. There's no need to attach the transcript.
Dave

Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. ~ Mark Skousen
 

#10
ShawnE  
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THANKS Slippery!
 

#11
sjrcpa  
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Your software may not allow you to enter that many for efiling.
 

#12
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You could do a W-2G summary and then attach a pdf file to the efile. The pdf file would contain scanned images of the individual W-2G's. SImilair to whats done with a large amount of stock sales and the summarizing and attaching the brokerage statement with all the detail.
 

#13
CathysTaxes  
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Do all W2Gs have the same EIN? Summary should be by EIN for matching purposes.
Cathy
CathysTaxes
 

#14
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Shawn

I am 99.9% sure the answer is yes to this question but did client have a net loss? We historically have seen a lot of W2G because of the proximity to the Indian Casinos in CT. When you see a client with multiple W2G you do not even have to ask if they have the losses because you know the answer is yes. Of course we still ask and most of them send us their info from their player cards and the losses are astounding.

It does not matter if the winnings are $50k, $100k, $200k, etc they all have losses.

In Massachusetts, gambling losses were not deductible so the taxpayer would have to pay tax on what essentially was phantom income. Now that Massachusetts has casinos, they allow for losses incurred in Massachusetts casinos only. Does not seem fair.They do not even allow losses on their own state lottery (scratch tickets) but the casino lobby pushed it through.

Seeing these repeated losses opens your eyes to how big of a problem gambling addiction can be.
 

#15
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SlipperyPencil wrote:Yes you can enter a summary. There's no need to attach the transcript.


Agreed. Usually there aren't federal taxes withheld on a W-2G so they need not be individually entered. Document matching treats them more like a 1099-NEC than a W-2.

BerkshireCPA wrote:Seeing these repeated losses opens your eyes to how big of a problem gambling addiction can be.


Yep. I once had a client who, following her husband unexpectedly dying, became addicted to slot machines and blew through their sizeable retirement account in a few years. It was painful doing her tax returns, especially because she refused to keep good records.

If a client keeps records of their gambling by session it can help offset the bite. For example, if they enter the casino with $500 in gambling money, but leave with $1,300 and a W-2G reporting $2,000 in winnings, only their net session gain of $800 is included in AGI. But casual gamblers almost never keep track like that so there's usually no basis for reporting anything other than the $2,000. And an addict is much less likely to track it.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen a casino yet that provides a usable gain/loss summary for session tax reporting purposes. Partly because they can't technically know when a session begins or ends, but it shouldn't be insurmountable to program that.
 

#16
Kris S  
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I have a client who always had 30 or more gambling W2-G's.

In Lacerte, I would enter the gross total on screen 13.2-Winnings not reported on W2-G. And the losses on same screen under Total gambling losses.

I never received an IRS letter.
 


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