W-9 for Gambling Winnings: Withholding, Reporting, and Loss Cap

A casino, sportsbook, or lottery office will ask you to complete a W-9 for gambling winnings the moment your payout hits the reporting threshold, which rose to $2,000 across all game types on January 1, 2026. The form gives the payer your name, address, and taxpayer identification number so they can issue a Form W-2G to you and the IRS. You hand the W-9 to the payer, not to the government, and you generally do it before they hand you the money.

When the W-9 Comes Out

The $2,000 floor replaces the old $1,200 trigger for slots and bingo and the $1,500 trigger for keno, both in place since 1977. The change was enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.¹ The additional conditions vary by game:

Slots and bingo: $2,000 or more, with no payout-to-wager ratio required.
Keno: $2,000 or more after subtracting the cost of the wager for that game.
Poker tournaments: $2,000 or more after subtracting the buy-in.
Sports betting, horse racing, dog racing, and jai alai: $2,000 or more, and the payout must also be at least 300 times the amount wagered. A $10 parlay paying $3,500 triggers reporting; a $500 bet returning $2,100 does not.
Sweepstakes, wagering pools, and lotteries, including state lotteries: $2,000 or more, again with the 300-times-the-wager condition.¹

One point worth being clear on: these thresholds only control when the payer has to collect your information and file a report. Every dollar of gambling income is taxable whether or not a W-9 ever crosses the counter.² Win $1,900 on a slot machine and nobody asks for your Social Security number. You still owe tax on it.

What the Payer Does With Your W-9

The W-9 never goes to the IRS. The payer keeps it on file and uses it to generate Form W-2G, the document that actually reports your winnings and any federal tax withheld.³⁴ Your taxpayer identification number ends up in Box 9 of that W-2G.

When you sign, you are certifying under penalty of perjury that the TIN you gave is correct, that you are not subject to backup withholding (or that you are, if the IRS has told you so), that you are a U.S. person, and that any FATCA exemption code you entered is correct.⁵ The payer also verifies your identity with two forms of ID, one of them a photo ID. A signed W-9 counts as the non-photo ID.¹

Withholding: What Comes Out of the Payout

Two separate withholding rules can apply to gambling winnings. Both use a 24% rate, but the triggers are different.

Regular Gambling Withholding

Regular withholding applies automatically when winnings exceed $5,000 from sweepstakes, wagering pools, lotteries, and wagers where the payout is at least 300 times the bet. The payer deducts 24% and sends it to the IRS on your behalf. Slots, bingo, and keno winnings are not subject to regular withholding, no matter how large the jackpot.

Backup Withholding

Backup withholding is what happens when the W-9 process breaks down. Refuse to provide a W-9, give an incorrect taxpayer identification number, or have the IRS notify the payer that your TIN does not match their records, and the payer must withhold 24% from your winnings.⁶ This applies to every type of gambling, including slots and bingo that would otherwise carry no withholding at all.

The payer has no discretion once backup withholding is triggered. You get 76% of the payout. The withheld amount becomes a credit on your tax return, so the money is not lost permanently, but you walk away from the counter with much less cash than you expected.

Group Wins: Who Signs the W-9

If a group pooled money on the winning ticket, the person collecting the prize should not just sign a W-9 alone and take a W-2G for the full jackpot. The IRS uses Form 5754 to split the reporting. The collector lists each group member’s name, address, taxpayer identification number, and share.⁷ The payer then issues a separate W-2G to each person for their portion. Skip this step and the whole jackpot lands on one person’s Social Security number, which is a mess to unwind after the fact.

Putting It on Your Tax Return

Gambling income goes on Schedule 1 (Form 1040) on the line designated for gambling income, and the total flows onto your 1040.⁸² Report everything, W-2G or not.

Any federal tax that was withheld, regular or backup, is a tax payment. You claim it on your 1040 and it reduces what you owe or increases your refund. The amount should match Box 4 of your W-2G.

A large win without withholding can put you in estimated-tax territory. The IRS expects tax paid as income is earned, and waiting until April can bring an underpayment penalty even if you pay in full then. Publication 505 covers the rules.²

The New 90% Cap on Loss Deductions

Losses can offset winnings, but only if you itemize on Schedule A, and losses can never exceed winnings for the year.² Starting with the 2026 tax year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act adds a second limit: gambling loss deductions are capped at 90% of losses, still bounded by total winnings. A player who wins $50,000 and loses $50,000 in the same year can deduct only $45,000, leaving $5,000 of taxable income despite breaking even. The industry calls the result phantom income, and it can produce a tax bill for frequent gamblers who assumed their losses would fully cancel their wins.

Records to Keep

The IRS expects a contemporaneous diary or log of your gambling activity. Reconstructing a year of sessions from memory at tax time is the fastest way to lose a loss deduction in an audit. Each entry should show the date and type of gambling, the name and location of the establishment, who was with you, and how much you won or lost.⁹ Keep the supporting paper too: W-2G forms, wagering tickets, canceled checks, credit records, and bank withdrawal slips. For table games where the casino does not track your play electronically, these records may be your only proof.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms W-2G and 5754 (01/2026)
2
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 419, Gambling Income and Losses
3
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification
4
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-2 G, Certain Gambling Winnings
5
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-9 (Rev. March 2024)
6
Internal Revenue Service. About Backup Withholding
7
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5754, Statement by Person(s) Receiving Gambling Winnings
8
Internal Revenue Service. Schedule 1 (Form 1040) – Additional Income and Adjustments to Income
9
Internal Revenue Service. Diary or Similar Record