About WagerLog
From 2026, only 90% of gambling losses can be deducted, and only if you itemize. A year spread across a casino rewards card, an online casino, a couple of sportsbooks and a sweepstakes site can leave you owing tax even if you came out even, and nobody sends you a single statement for all of it. WagerLog adds up the year from every place you played and shows what you'll owe, federal and state, and why.
How it works
The checker applies published rules: IRS forms, instructions and publications, the Internal Revenue Code, and each state's revenue department and statutes. They're the same rules, with the same sources, as our sister site WinningsTax, where every rule is listed with its source and the date it was last checked on its methodology page.
Everything is calculated in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us.
A few judgment calls are worth knowing about:
- Totals, not sessions. The checker works from your yearly totals. For slot play the IRS figures winnings and losses per session, which can lower both totals. Your casino's win/loss statement is a summary, not a session log.
- Sweepstakes casinos. The IRS hasn't said whether sweepstakes redemptions are gambling winnings or prizes. The checker takes the cautious reading: redemptions are taxed as income, and coin purchases aren't treated as gambling losses.
- Several states. Winnings are taxed by the state you live in, and some states also tax nonresidents who win there. The checker applies each state's rules and your home state's credit for tax paid elsewhere, where it gives one.
Rules are rechecked at the start of each tax year, when the IRS publishes new forms, and when a state changes its law.
What it is not
- Not tax advice. Results are estimates of the tax your gambling adds, from general rules. Your return depends on things the checker doesn't know. Check it with a tax professional, especially for large amounts.
- Not affiliated with the IRS, any state revenue department, or any casino, sportsbook, sweepstakes operator or gaming regulator.
- Not a gambling site. We don't take bets or promote gambling. If gambling is causing you problems, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Who runs it
WagerLog is an independent site.
Corrections are welcome. See the corrections page, or email hello@wagerlog.app.