U.S. Taxes on Bitcoin Gambling

[chris200x9]

i don't know about the US taxes on bitcoin gambling, but as the sites is on internet and we are playing gambling in internet, i think the US government is not applying taxes for bitcoin gambling. i am not sure about this because i don't live in the US, but if we doing buy and sell in coinbase, i think the taxes will be applying when we want to make depost or withdraw the money. better to ask the third party service that help us to do buy and sell bitcoin so we can understand about the taxes.

As long as you are gambling from US country and gambling site is based on it. It requires a tax because this involves money. It is stated on their laws. Not sure about the specific law. That's why online gambling is illegal because they are evading tax and they operate without the permission of government.

I don;t think online gambling is illegal, there are quite a lot of online gambling sites within the USA. The US are really open to gambling compared to every other country out there. So, I guess online gambling is really legal there. The problem is really just about taxing them, I don't think gamblers have to pay any tax in playing. That would be absurd.

Yes not only just online gambling sites in the USA we see a number of real casinos around the country. I don't know how they will deduct tax. Is it possible in Bitcoin gambling? If they are collecting tax from players, then gambling should be legal in the USA. I do not belong to the USA but I never seen any news regarding this topic.

[Barnstorm]

Yes not only just online gambling sites in the USA we see a number of real casinos around the country. I don't know how they will deduct tax. Is it possible in Bitcoin gambling? If they are collecting tax from players, then gambling should be legal in the USA. I do not belong to the USA but I never seen any news regarding this topic.

Offshore Gambling sites will not deduct U.S. tax. It is up to the U.S. citizen to declare their income from gambling.

From my understanding of the current law, it is not illegal for a U.S. citizen to place a wager at an offshore Sportsbook, but it is illegal for the Offshore Sportsbook to take that wager, and to accept deposits! There are also State laws that may make it illegal for the State citizen to place a wager, so you should check your State laws also.

The U.S. is not looking to jail citizens for gambling, but the IRS wants you to pay your taxes on your winnings. Fair enough. Eventually, it will be legalized, regulated and taxed.

[kidoseagle0312]

If you are gambling at a Bitcoin Sportsbook, and want to keep it honest and report it, it can be very difficult to track not only your wins and losses, but also your Bitcoin transactions and capital gains and losses.

The way I understand it, if you buy and then sell or spend Bitcoin, it is considered a taxable event and is to be treated like you bought and sold a stock. You have to keep track of your buy price and your sell price and report it like a stock trade.

Does this mean that when you win a wager, you have "bought" some Bitcoin at the current price?
And if you lose a wager, it is as if you "sold" some Bitcoin at the current price?

If so, it could be very difficult and confusing to track all of your buys and sells, as you have to decide which Bitcoin you "sold" when you lost a wager. It gets crazy when it is fractions of Bitcoins that you have to figure out that you lost or "sold" at a certain price and then decide what price did you win or "buy" them at.

For example, you may have lost or "sold" .25 BTC when BTC was at $1,000, but you then have to choose which BTC and what "buy" price you have lost, or "sold." It may be .10 BTC that you have left from a win or "buy" when BTC was at $900, .05 BTC that you have left from a win or "buy" when BTC was at $800, and .10 BTC that you have left from a win or "buy" when BTC was at $700.

You have to keep track of all your different BTC wins or "buys" and at what BTC price, and then choose which ones to "sell" off when you lose a wager.

If you do a lot of wagering, this could get crazy.

Is this right?

That's not going to be happen, because Bitcoin is anonymous, And as far as I know all gambling site in bitcoin industry is taxed free, if ever happen that there is tax the essence of bitcoin will also be change from decentralization will turn to centralization and that is insane. Decentralization is the good point of Bitcoin that's each government in all countries cannot control it. That's why it's hard for them to trace it.

[blackhawkeye1912]

If that happen in the US, for sure it would be unfair for the gamblers out there that they're winning bitcoin price will automatically deducted by tax, and that's new to me also if that's will be implemented.

[Ziskinberg]

If the gambling site is not regulated then there would be no problem for us to worry about how we are going to remit the right taxes. Law in US is very complicated and strict due to the fact that there are good volume of users in that country, but as for me, I'm happy with the current situation in our country now as I do not need to declare anything about bitcoin.

However, if the right time will come that it's required then I will just simply comply with it maybe if I cannot hide it. lol.

[adroitful_one]

I'm not sure if it works the same way with bitcoin as it does usd or not. But with usd you're not required to report it unless you win $750 or more off of one single bet. At least that's how it works in my state.

[Fireblade]

If you are gambling at a Bitcoin Sportsbook, and want to keep it honest and report it, it can be very difficult to track not only your wins and losses, but also your Bitcoin transactions and capital gains and losses.

The way I understand it, if you buy and then sell or spend Bitcoin, it is considered a taxable event and is to be treated like you bought and sold a stock. You have to keep track of your buy price and your sell price and report it like a stock trade.

Does this mean that when you win a wager, you have "bought" some Bitcoin at the current price?
And if you lose a wager, it is as if you "sold" some Bitcoin at the current price?

If so, it could be very difficult and confusing to track all of your buys and sells, as you have to decide which Bitcoin you "sold" when you lost a wager. It gets crazy when it is fractions of Bitcoins that you have to figure out that you lost or "sold" at a certain price and then decide what price did you win or "buy" them at.

For example, you may have lost or "sold" .25 BTC when BTC was at $1,000, but you then have to choose which BTC and what "buy" price you have lost, or "sold." It may be .10 BTC that you have left from a win or "buy" when BTC was at $900, .05 BTC that you have left from a win or "buy" when BTC was at $800, and .10 BTC that you have left from a win or "buy" when BTC was at $700.

You have to keep track of all your different BTC wins or "buys" and at what BTC price, and then choose which ones to "sell" off when you lose a wager.

If you do a lot of wagering, this could get crazy.

Is this right?

That's not going to be happen, because Bitcoin is anonymous, And as far as I know all gambling site in bitcoin industry is taxed free, if ever happen that there is tax the essence of bitcoin will also be change from decentralization will turn to centralization and that is insane. Decentralization is the good point of Bitcoin that's each government in all countries cannot control it. That's why it's hard for them to trace it.

i personally have o idea about that either the online gambling sits are free of taxes or not and it is because as in our country gambling is not as legal and therefor here no one can openly run a casino either he is running physical or online gambling sites. May be in some countries it is legal and there may be tax on it.

[ImHash]

Tax for what? yeah sure go ahead and obey them blindly those laws to take your money and spend on weapons and military arsenal with only one goal to kill other people instead of spending them on making sure there is peace in the world.
But honestly what are they doing when it comes to online gambling or cryptocurrencies? are they protecting you from cyber attacks/hacks/theft/fraud?
This kind of tyranny shouldn't be tolerated by any citizens of any country, as you know governments around the world are the minority ruling us the majority and ironically in bitcoin network the majority(miners doing everything in consensus) are ruling the minority.
Bitcoin can not be geographically allocated so it's more like the international waters, if you hide your transactions and business in general using a mixer big and trusted enough such as BitMixer.io no one and I mean NO ONE will be able to link you as a US citizen to any transaction and financial activity what so ever.

[Ayers]

are gamble site even tracked in the usa? how they can track them and the user who win? those gamble site have no registration of any type and you can win and go away at any point without any trace, minus your address but this is not connected to your real name, i think with bitcoin there are no tax to pay with gambling, with usd in fact they often require id and stuff like that, to avoid this issue

[chennan]

Tax for what? yeah sure go ahead and obey them blindly those laws to take your money and spend on weapons and military arsenal with only one goal to kill other people instead of spending them on making sure there is peace in the world.
But honestly what are they doing when it comes to online gambling or cryptocurrencies? are they protecting you from cyber attacks/hacks/theft/fraud?
This kind of tyranny shouldn't be tolerated by any citizens of any country, as you know governments around the world are the minority ruling us the majority and ironically in bitcoin network the majority(miners doing everything in consensus) are ruling the minority.
Bitcoin can not be geographically allocated so it's more like the international waters, if you hide your transactions and business in general using a mixer big and trusted enough such as BitMixer.io no one and I mean NO ONE will be able to link you as a US citizen to any transaction and financial activity what so ever.

Not to mention that US governments are not okay with people gambling in any way, shape, or form that pertains to "luck" or "chance" on casino like games (except in areas like Las Vegas with special "permissions"), but is OK to buy state lotto tickets.  God knows how that money, which is collected to fund in state education, is used.  The funny thing with cash (which is the only way to purchase lotto tickets) is that it is a truly anonymous/fungible physical form of currency; which allows the government to be able to spend it on whatever they chose and to be responsible for whatever they deem fit.

To your point about mixers though, I'm not so sure about that.  A mixer that is "big" and "trusted" is a centralized source where governments can attack.  There are many ways people with resources, like the government, can be able to manipulate the host of the site to comply and cooperate, etc.

If Bitcoin has taught us anything, it is the power of decentralization.  Things always tend to want to centralize... you can even see that today with the centralization of mining, exchange sites, etc. in order to be viewed as "credible", which is just wrong.  I find it important to keep trying to find a system that promotes a truly decentralized way of being able to exchange a currency online without having to worry about having to go to a centralized mixing system in order to remain "anonymous" or have your currency to remain fungible and not associated with past transactions.

[maydna]

are gamble site even tracked in the usa? how they can track them and the user who win? those gamble site have no registration of any type and you can win and go away at any point without any trace, minus your address but this is not connected to your real name, i think with bitcoin there are no tax to pay with gambling, with usd in fact they often require id and stuff like that, to avoid this issue

maybe the government can only track by the domain name and if its related with gambling, bitcoin, games, games online, then they will watching people and maybe they will write some note for the domain and people which is visited that domain name. but i think its difficult to know every people which playing gambling using bitcoin as people is not use their name for playing gambling and only use bitcoin wallet address to make a bets.

[skironDotNet]

I'm not any tax pro, but I analyzed lost of crypto topics, and I would apply common sense.

Only sales and exchanges are taxable events. This means when you bet you don't sell or exchange you just put your property to wager.
Let use Doge as an example. You withdraw 1000 doge from an exchange (It's your property) to the gambling site. You make a few bets and you balance is 1050 DOGE, you withdraw from gambling site back to exchange or your wallet doesn't matter. You acquired 50, the 1000 you withdraw and deposit back is still considered holding, and 50 is considered win from gambling flat 25% tax from this 50 (converted to USD)   

From the IRS: "You are required to report the fair market value of your non-cash winnings as "other income" on your Form 1040."

Keep in mind 2 things

1. sending around your property is not tax event, it's like getting your TV to your bother and bringing back after a week.
2. "coins" don't have IDs for tax purpose, you can't say Oh you took 1000 doge to gambling site then brought back different 1000 Doge back, think of like you took 2 TVs model number Doge, bet 1 TV, for which you got another TV, now you have 3 TVs, 2 where yours anyway and 1 you won, so you pay tax on one TV you won, the 2 remaining where never sold or exchanged.

If crypto community will keep up with this obsession of "taxable" soon some newbies will pay tax for generating a new address, please STOP.

For the loses in gambling, if you deposited 1000 and lost 50, you still own/hold 950, and you claim 50 loss the fair market value. As a proof you need your gambling history to prove one way or another.

Whatever you hold in your gambling account is what you "hold and in possession" unless you permanently loss the access to your account then it's a loss of a property. The only taxable event in my opinion here would be converting Doge to BTC at the gambling site as some allow such.

[Devawnm367]

I believe it works alot like slot machines, you do not have to claim taxes unless you hit over 500 or 1000, and or if you hit  jackpot, I know at a casino I hit a 700$ progressive it was not taxed, because it was a progressive but my brother hit a 500$ jackpot, and had to file, So I'm not 100% sure how it works, I would ask you acctountant! I'm also pretty sure there is a certain amount of money you can make befor you claim, something like less the 8k usd or something!!!!

[J Gambler]

My uncle always uses bitcoin to bet into any kind of gambling as for his says if your bet is max into their minimum wage of course it will taxed you depends on their policies and agreement, and you need to agreed with that for you to make a good bet ahead

[stadus]

My uncle always uses bitcoin to bet into any kind of gambling as for his says if your bet is max into their minimum wage of course it will taxed you depends on their policies and agreement, and you need to agreed with that for you to make a good bet ahead

Taxes on gambling is not good, good thing I am not from the USA.
I am not certain with the laws in my country but so far I am able to freely gamble online anytime.
I believe it's really hard to regulate crypto and as a gambler, crypto gives us full freedom.

[swogerino]

Although US has gone forward with different bitcoin laws I think that when you deposit to a betting site is as if you sold bitcoin at current price and when you withdraw from the betting site is as if you bought bitcoin at current price.

I also think that this is a wrong law and only the betting company should pay taxes and not the end user.

[eternalgloom]

i don't know about the US taxes on bitcoin gambling, but as the sites is on internet and we are playing gambling in internet, i think the US government is not applying taxes for bitcoin gambling. i am not sure about this because i don't live in the US, but if we doing buy and sell in coinbase, i think the taxes will be applying when we want to make depost or withdraw the money. better to ask the third party service that help us to do buy and sell bitcoin so we can understand about the taxes.

As long as you are gambling from US country and gambling site is based on it. It requires a tax because this involves money. It is stated on their laws. Not sure about the specific law. That's why online gambling is illegal because they are evading tax and they operate without the permission of government.

I don;t think online gambling is illegal, there are quite a lot of online gambling sites within the USA. The US are really open to gambling compared to every other country out there. So, I guess online gambling is really legal there. The problem is really just about taxing them, I don't think gamblers have to pay any tax in playing. That would be absurd.

I agree, there are loads of sites which are licensed in the US and they are all taxable if you come out with profit. Even if the site is from another country, as long as you are earning a substantial amount, it will be taxable income. There is no tax involved if you don't win anything or just plainly lose your funds.

Really? I mean I thought that it was practically impossible to gamble online legally in most states.
Here's a map that shows where it's legal to gamble: https://www.playusa.com/us/

That said, it's not because it's not regulated that the IRS can't tax you. I'd either invest a lot into playing anonymous or report any winnings.

[STT]

In the U.S., ALL income is taxable - even from Offshore Gambling sites.

In the US as a citizen even if you leave the country and dont work there, dont receive any income from USA, have no assets there and live for years abroad in another country;  even after all that you will still owe the US Federal government taxes on your income.

This is one of only two countries and the other is a tiny regime that has such a law for foreign citizens.    You literally cannot escape these taxes, exiting as a citizen will also cost many thousands in fees as well as the taxes.    The one alternative I have heard of is to become a registered member of the Federal Territory of Puerto Rico which as it is not an incorporated state does somehow allow them to field no tax liability on you.  You will pay local taxes only.   You must be present in the country for at least half the year and tax is only affected going forward not previous gains

[mirakal]

The problem with US is they want to tax everything, so in order for them to do that, they will find ways to control and one is they will require us to adopt with the rules and regulation and if we fail to adopt then we will face the legal consequences.

Unclear standard law in crypto is the reason why the price is dumping now, people has loss confidence because SEC has not make a move to release a law that would help crypto investors or users, instead, they crack down ICOs, illegal gambling sites using the AML law.

[onrise]

I'm not sure if it works the same way with bitcoin as it does usd or not. But with usd you're not required to report it unless you win $750 or more off of one single bet. At least that's how it works in my state.

750$ is a quite good amount and that too with a single bet as you mentioned so ideally you should be playing with that much amount itself that it is under 750$ winning amount even if you won the bet so that you are not required to pay the taxes. I think btc needs to be the same as US else it would be quite harsh for people who bets with btc.