Are Winnings on Let's Make a Deal TV Show Considered Gambling Winnings for Taxes?
Title: Are Winnings on Let's Make a Deal TV Show Considered Gambling Winnings for Taxes? 1 I appeared on Let's Make a Deal last year and won some pretty awesome prizes (a trip to Hawaii and a new laptop)! While preparing for my 2025 taxes, I'm wondering how these winnings are classified. Are they considered gambling winnings like lottery or casino wins? Or are they categorized differently since it's a game show? The show sent me a 1099-MISC form showing the fair market value of everything I won, but I'm confused about how to report this on my tax return. Does anyone know if I need to fill out additional gambling forms or if there are specific deductions I can take? I'm using TurboTax and don't want to mess anything up!
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Paige Cantoni
8 Game show winnings are NOT classified as gambling winnings for tax purposes. They're considered "prizes and awards" which is different from gambling income. The 1099-MISC you received is exactly what you should expect. The IRS treats these winnings as ordinary income, which means you'll report the full fair market value shown on your 1099-MISC on Schedule 1, Line 8 (Other Income). You don't need to fill out any gambling-specific forms like you would with casino or lottery winnings. One important thing to note: unlike gambling winnings where you can deduct losses, you generally cannot deduct any expenses related to winning on a game show. So if you had to pay for travel to the studio or other costs to participate, those aren't deductible against the prize value. When entering this in TurboTax, look for the section about "prizes and awards" rather than gambling income. They'll have a specific place for 1099-MISC income.
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Paige Cantoni
•14 Thanks for explaining this! Quick question - does this mean game show winnings are taxed at my regular income tax rate? And second question - will I owe state taxes on this too, or just federal?
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Paige Cantoni
•8 Yes, game show winnings are taxed at your regular income tax rate, just like your paycheck or other ordinary income. It gets added on top of your other income, which could potentially push you into a higher tax bracket depending on the value of what you won. You will almost certainly owe state taxes as well as federal. Most states follow the federal treatment and consider game show winnings as taxable income. However, the exact rules vary by state, so check your specific state's tax guidelines. California, where many game shows are filmed, is particularly aggressive about taxing winnings, even for non-residents who appeared on shows filmed there.
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Paige Cantoni
11 After dealing with a similar situation last year, I found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) incredibly helpful for sorting through all my prize winnings documentation. I was on The Price is Right and won a car and some furniture, which came with a bunch of confusing tax forms. The tool analyzed my 1099-MISC and other documents, then explained exactly how to report everything correctly. Their system helped me understand the difference between prize winnings and gambling income, which saved me from making a potentially costly mistake on my taxes. It also identified some related expenses I could legitimately write off that I wouldn't have known about otherwise.
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Paige Cantoni
•14 I'm curious - what kind of expenses were you able to write off? I thought the previous commenter said you couldn't deduct expenses related to winning on a game show?
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Paige Cantoni
•19 Does taxr.ai handle complex situations? I won on a game show but also had actual gambling winnings from a casino the same year. Not sure how to separate these properly on my tax forms.
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Paige Cantoni
•11 I was able to deduct some expenses related to the prizes themselves, not the cost of getting on the show. For example, I had to pay to ship some of the furniture I won, and there were registration and title transfer fees for the car. The taxr.ai system identified these as legitimate deductions against the prize value in some circumstances. For complex situations with both game show and actual gambling winnings, that's exactly where taxr.ai shines. It can distinguish between different types of income and explain how each should be reported. Gambling winnings go on a different form (W-2G) and can have gambling losses deducted against them (on Schedule A if you itemize), while game show winnings are reported differently. The system walks you through each scenario separately.
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Paige Cantoni
19 Just wanted to follow up! I decided to try taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it was incredibly helpful. I uploaded my 1099-MISC from the game show and my W-2G from the casino, and it immediately separated them correctly. The system explained that I needed to report the game show winnings as "Other Income" on Schedule 1, while the gambling winnings went on a different line with different rules. It also gave me a detailed breakdown of potential deductions for each category and flagged a warning about state taxes I wouldn't have caught otherwise. The documentation analysis saved me hours of research and probably prevented an audit trigger. Definitely worth checking out if you have unusual income situations like this!
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Paige Cantoni
7 If you're getting stressed about this tax situation, I'd recommend trying Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get direct answers from the IRS. I had a similar situation with game show winnings and couldn't get through to the IRS for weeks. Claimyr got me connected to an agent in about 15 minutes who confirmed exactly how to report everything. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Basically, they navigate the IRS phone system and call you back when they reach an agent. The IRS rep I spoke with explained the exact forms I needed and confirmed that game show winnings aren't gambling income, so I avoided a potential reporting mistake.
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Paige Cantoni
•3 How does this service actually work? I've spent hours on hold with the IRS before giving up. Do they actually get you through faster than calling yourself?
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Paige Cantoni
•5 This sounds too good to be true. The IRS phone lines are notoriously impossible to get through. I've tried calling dozens of times about my audit situation and always get disconnected after waiting for hours. I find it hard to believe any service could magically get through when millions of people can't.
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Paige Cantoni
•7 The service works by using technology to navigate the IRS phone system more efficiently than we can as individuals. They have a system that autodials and works through the phone tree, then holds your place in line. When they finally reach an actual human agent, they call you and connect you directly. No more sitting on hold for hours! It absolutely does get you through faster than calling yourself. The IRS phone lines are overwhelmed, but their system is persistent and knows the best times to call. I was skeptical too until I tried it. The thing is, the IRS actually does answer calls - just not all of them, and the wait times are ridiculous. Claimyr basically does the waiting for you, and you only get on the phone when there's actually an agent ready to talk.
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Paige Cantoni
5 I need to apologize for my skepticism about Claimyr. After being frustrated with my audit situation and not getting through to the IRS for weeks, I decided to give it a try. I'm honestly shocked at how well it worked. I submitted my request through their website, and about 30 minutes later I got a call saying they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent was able to answer all my questions about my game show winnings situation AND help me with my audit issue. She confirmed that game show winnings are considered prizes/awards rather than gambling income and walked me through exactly how to document everything. After months of stress and uncertainty, I had clear answers in less than an hour. If you're dealing with tax questions that only the IRS can answer definitively, this service is a game-changer.
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Paige Cantoni
22 Another thing to consider with game show winnings is that sometimes you can negotiate to take cash instead of the actual prizes. This might be better tax-wise in some cases because you won't have to pay taxes on the full retail value of items you might not want or need. I was on Wheel of Fortune a couple years ago and won a vacation package that was valued at $8,500 on paper, but I negotiated to take $5,000 cash instead. This saved me from paying taxes on the higher amount, plus I didn't have to deal with blackout dates and restrictions on the trip.
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Paige Cantoni
•1 Did you have to do this negotiation before the show aired or after you already won? I'm wondering if it's too late for me since I already received my prizes and the 1099-MISC.
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Paige Cantoni
•22 You have to negotiate this before accepting the prizes, usually right after the show taping. Once you've signed the acceptance paperwork and received the prizes, it's too late to change to a cash option. At that point, you're liable for taxes on the full fair market value listed on the 1099-MISC. For future reference (or for others reading this), most game shows have staff that will discuss prize options with winners immediately after taping. That's your window to ask about cash alternatives. The cash value offered is almost always less than the stated retail value of the prizes, but it can still be a better deal tax-wise.
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Paige Cantoni
16 Has anyone had experience with selling prizes from game shows? I'm wondering if you can deduct the loss if you sell something for less than the value reported on the 1099-MISC.
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Paige Cantoni
•4 I sold a jet ski I won on a game show for about 30% less than the reported value on my 1099. My accountant said you can't deduct the loss directly, but she did something with reporting it as a capital loss with a cost basis equal to the fair market value I was taxed on. Definitely talk to a tax professional about this because it gets complicated.
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KingKongZilla
Great question! I went through this same situation a few years ago. Game show winnings are definitely NOT gambling winnings - they're classified as "other income" or "prizes and awards" by the IRS. You'll report the full value from your 1099-MISC on Schedule 1, Line 8i. One thing to watch out for: you'll owe taxes on the full fair market value even if you think the prizes were overvalued. I won a car on a game show that was listed at $35,000 but was probably worth closer to $28,000 based on what I could actually sell it for. Still had to pay taxes on the full $35K. Also, don't forget that the show may have already withheld some taxes from any cash portion of your winnings. Check your 1099-MISC carefully - if they withheld federal taxes, that amount should show up in Box 4. You can claim that as a credit when you file. The good news is TurboTax handles this pretty well. Just enter it under "Other Income" when it asks about your 1099-MISC forms, not under gambling winnings.
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