Quote:
Originally Posted by NickMPK
I don’t think it changed gambling loss deductions directly. But gambling losses are itemized deductions, and thus require you to forego the standard deduction if you want to take them at all. And the law did several things to induce people to take the standard deductions rather than itemize.
Most importantly it eliminated the personal exemption (which everyone used to get whether they itemized or not) and increased the standard deduction in its place. It also reduced several other opportunities for itemization. Basically it screwed over anyone who wants to itemize in an effort to encourage people to simplify their returns.
The elimination of the exemption was across the board, not just for gamblers. So you can’t cite that as something which hurts poker players.
And I’m still not sure understand how itemization is a good thing in and of itself. A taxpayer only itemizes when their tax burden is lowered by itemization. If their tax burden is not lowered by itemization (ie the standard deduction is higher than their itemized defections), then they don’t itemize. But maybe I’m missing something about the benefits of itemization which you could explain.
Anyhow, I think the one change in the tax law which could greatly benefit some poker players is the introduction of the QBID deduction. This only impacts professional players who are incorporated as “S” corps, and I am not sure if gamblers are excluded (though I have never seen anything which indicates they are). But it constitutes a pretty significant tax break for many companies.
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure this benefit expires after 2025, and unless something changes in the political climate, I doubt it will be extended.