什么时候该知道 reporting your fantasy football winnings – or losses
Editor’s Note: It is fantasy football season again, which means some of you might have questions about the money that’s changing hands. 回答你们的问题, we thought it would be a good time to breathe some new life into this article, 哪一本最初出版于2016年. We’ve also updated the tax rules to adhere to the modifications that were made as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 享受!
When you sit down with your CPA to go over last year’s taxable income and they ask you how your fantasy football team did this year, they aren’t just looking to engage you in casual conversation. 事实上，怎么 well (or how poorly) you did over the last year might make a difference in the 你的税单大小.
根据研究 幻想体育 & 游戏协会 (FSGA)，约59.300万人 playing fantasy sports in the USA and Canada in 2017 – about 78 percent of them 我们是梦幻橄榄球运动员. 而且, on average, over a 12-month period, players spent about $556 on league-related costs, single-player challenge games and league-related材料. In short – fantasy sports has become a serious business and, as with most business matters, you should be prepared to report your fantasy sports winnings (or losses) to the 国税局 on 1040年形成.
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幻想中的金钱消费 和真钱一样
Just because your football team is fantasy doesn’t mean your money is, and when real money is being exchanged, you have an obligation 在你的纳税申报表上申报. 然而，由于美国国税局尚未确定 proper treatment of fantasy sport income and losses, the jury is still out on the “proper” way to report these fantasy winnings/losses on tax returns. 而且, from a state perspective, while most state departments of taxation are struggling to identify the proper treatment of these funds, a few have issued 指导重点是梦幻体育运营商.
不仅仅是爱好?
How your fantasy sports activity is classified will affect how your income (or lack thereof) is reported. 具体来说，纳税人需要这样做 知道国税局是否考虑他们的 幻想足球活动是赌博 and whether “the activity is not engaged in for profit (i.e.爱好活动; if it is not gambling, or casual gambling, if it is gambling) or if the activity rises to the level of being a 贸易或商业.”
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made some significant changes to the taxation and deductibility of certain expenses in this area. These changes will impact tax filings for years 2018 to 2025.
Ultimately, at this time, how your CPA will classify your fantasy football activity depends on your own facts and circumstances. 而 you may consider fantasy football to be a hobby, someone else may be using it 有重要的收入来源.
爱好活动
For most people, fantasy football will be classified as a hobby – meaning that it doesn’t receive the level of activity required to 有资格成为一种贸易或生意. In this case, your reporting would be guided by hobby loss rules and income is reported on 时间表 1, line 21 of your 国税局 1040年形成. 根据TCJA, 2018年至2025年， deductions are no longer able to offset income.
一个Nongambling 活动-贸易或商业
Do you keep accurate books and records and conduct your fantasy football activity in a businesslike manner? 那么它就有资格成为 贸易或商业. Final judgment, however, is left to the 国税局, which will determine if the activity contains elements of personal pleasure or recreation. If you do qualify for this classification though, your ordinary and necessary expenses could be deductible and your net income would be subject to 业税. 你的活动会在 时间表 C.
休闲赌博活动
Would you consider your fantasy football gambling? 如果是这样的话, then you will need to refer to the usual rules governing gambling activities, which means that your entrance fees for losing contests should be reported as gambling losses and allowable only if you 详细列出扣除项目. 不同于爱好活动, your deductions are generally allowed only up to the amount of income you secured as a result of the activity and only if you 详细列出扣除项目. 你的 expenses are reported as miscellaneous itemized deductions, not subject to the 2 percent-of-adjusted-gross-income (AGI) floor on 时间表 A, 线16. The expenses are allowed for alternative minimum tax (AMT) purposes. 你的 expenses would include your entrance fees for losing contests and other expenses you incurred as a result of the activity.
专业的赌博 活动-贸易或商业
If you consider your fantasy football activity to be gambling, and you consider you level of involvement to be “full-time,” and as a means for producing income to sustain a livelihood, you could be considered a professional gambler in the grade or business of gambling. 你需要 在表格上报告你的收入和损失 时间表 C. However, under TJCA, a loss is not allowed to 被创建. In other words, your expenses are limited to your income. 你的 losses in excess of your gains cannot be carried over to another year. 普通的 and necessary business expenses include all expenses incurred to engage in the 赌博活动. When a joint return is filed, the combined gambling losses of the spouses are allowed to the event of their combined gambling gains.
By 丽莎·比默，注册会计师 (新费城办事处)