How Do Sports Betting Taxes Work? Calculating FanDuel and DraftKings Winnings for Taxes

Do you need to list the winnings and losses separately somewhere on your tax forms? Or do you just report the net profit of $3,200 directly? Also, what if I don't itemize deductions and just take the standard deduction?

You'll need to report the full $24,500 as income on your tax return, typically on Schedule 1, Line 8 for "Other Income." Then you can deduct the $21,300 in losses on Schedule A if you itemize deductions. If you take the standard deduction instead of itemizing, that's where things get tough for gamblers. You would still have to report all your winnings as income, but you wouldn't be able to deduct any of your losses. This means you'd be paying taxes on the full $24,500 even though your actual profit was only $3,200. This is why serious gamblers often benefit from itemizing, even if the standard deduction would otherwise be higher.

How does this work with the different forms? I've been getting W-2Gs from one platform but not the other, and I'm confused about how to report everything consistently.

Sounds interesting but does it actually save you money? Or just organize the paperwork? I'm trying to figure out if I should just hire an accountant this year because sports betting has made my taxes way more complicated.

The W-2G forms are only issued for certain larger winnings (typically $600+ with odds of at least 300:1), but you still need to report ALL gambling income regardless of whether you received a form. The tool helps consolidate everything so you don't miss anything that might trigger an audit. The service definitely saved me money because it showed me how to properly aggregate my gambling activities across platforms. I was planning to report them separately, which would have cost me about $1,400 extra in taxes. It's significantly cheaper than an accountant but gives you all the documentation and instructions you need to file correctly.

How much does this service cost? The IRS phone system is a nightmare but I'm wondering if it's worth paying just to get through to someone when the information might be available online.

Sorry but this sounds like BS. Nobody can actually get through to the IRS. I've tried multiple times and waited on hold for HOURS only to be disconnected. How could some random service magically get priority access?

There is a fee, but I found it completely worth it considering I spent over 4 hours on multiple attempts trying to get through myself. The time savings alone made it worthwhile, especially when I was facing a deadline to file correctly. The service doesn't have "priority access" - they use an automated system that continually redials and navigates the phone tree until they get through to a human representative. They essentially do the waiting for you, then connect you once they have someone on the line. It's not magic, just technology that takes the frustration out of the process. They can't guarantee immediate access, but it's dramatically faster than trying yourself.

Thanks for this! For the gambling log - is there a specific format that works best? Should I be keeping track of every single bet, or can I just track daily/weekly totals by platform?

I track every significant bet individually, and for smaller bets, I group them by day and platform. The key is to record enough detail that you can justify your numbers if questioned. There's no official IRS format for a gambling log, but I use a spreadsheet with columns for: Date, Platform/Location, Type of Wager, Amount Wagered, Winnings (if any), and Net Gain/Loss. This makes it easy to generate summaries by platform, by month, or for the entire year. If you're making dozens of small bets daily, daily summaries by platform are probably sufficient, but keep the detailed records accessible just in case.

Yes, you absolutely must report ALL gambling winnings regardless of where they came from, even offshore sites that don't report to the IRS. All income is taxable under US law, including gambling winnings from foreign sources. The lack of a W-2G or other official form doesn't exempt you from reporting. You're required to track and report this income yourself. If you get audited and they discover unreported gambling income, you could face penalties and interest on top of the taxes owed. Document everything as thoroughly as possible, including bank transfers to and from these sites.

This is really helpful, thanks! Quick follow-up question - when you say I need to maintain my own logs, what level of detail are we talking about? I have the annual statements from both FanDuel and DraftKings, but I didn't keep track of individual bets throughout the year. Is that going to be a problem, or are the platform statements sufficient for documentation purposes? I'm worried about getting audited and not having enough backup records.

The annual statements from FanDuel and DraftKings should be sufficient as your primary documentation, especially since these are regulated platforms that provide detailed year-end summaries. However, I'd recommend downloading any additional transaction history or monthly statements they offer just to have more comprehensive backup records. For future reference, keeping a simple spreadsheet with date, platform, amount wagered, and result is ideal, but don't stress too much about not having individual bet records from this past year. The platform statements show your total activity and are considered reliable documentation by the IRS. If you're really concerned about audit protection, you might want to check if the platforms allow you to download more detailed transaction histories going back through the year - many do keep this data available in your account settings.