Don't Mess With Taxes

@Beijing2022 As I type, athletes representing the United States at the winter Olympics in Beijing have won 12 medals. Six of the awards are gold, five are silver and one is bronze. In addition to receiving the medals themselves, along with a floral bouquet and a stuffed toy version of Bing Dwen Dwen, the immensely popular panda mascot of the games, the celebrated athletes get some cash. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays $37,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 per silver, and $15,000 per bronze. In case you were wondering about your own tax bill, the Team USA... Read more →

The newly built Japan National Stadium in Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies on July 23, 2021, as well as some of the COVID-delayed games' events. (Photo by Arne Müseler via Wikipedia Commons) The 2020 Olympics from Tokyo officially start on Friday, July 23. No, the opening ceremonies arriving after some events' preliminary matches have already been played doesn't mean we get do-overs. Sorry, women's U.S. soccer team. Yes, the global sporting event is keeping last year's designation for continuity's sake, as well as not having to go to the expense of reproducing material created before the... Read more →

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers literally will be the home team in Jan. 7's Super Bowl LV. The NFL championship game is being played at their stadium. The Kansas City Chiefs, however, are still favored by bettors to win the title. We're not back to normal, but the National Football League is doing all it can to keep its traditions, and team bank accounts, on track. Despite some issues in 2020, the NFL played out the season last year. On Sunday, Feb. 7, it will crown its champion in the annual Super Bowl. This 55th big game has a lot, in... Read more →

A panoramic view of the University of Colorado's Folsom Field. The school has a deal worth more than $1.6 million dollars with an Australian sportsbook. (Photo by MECU via Wikipedia Commons) I hope your college football teams did better than mine did yesterday. I also hope that if you placed any bets on any National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) games, your selections netted you some extra cash. My aforementioned reference to the sad play of my teams is why I don't bet on sports, college or pro. But many people have been wagering legally on amateur college competitions since the... Read more →

Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback (and Texas Tech alum) Patrick Mahomes is back in action tonight as the NFL kicks off its 2020 season under special COVID-19 rules. (Image via GIPHY) The United States is going to try a bit of normal tonight with the kickoff of the 2020 National Football League season. Sure, America's favorite spectator sport is not quite there. The coronavirus pandemic means that the stands at Arrowhead Stadium won't be full as the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs take on the Houston Texans. But most of us will be watching the NFL on television,... Read more →

The coronavirus pandemic has not only affected sports leagues, athletes and fans, but also gamblers and the state tax collectors that have come to rely on that related tax revenue. Shortened seasons, revised playoff rounds, cardboard fans in stands. Still, Americans' love of sports and boredom with COVID-19 self-isolation, along with the events being televised, has helped the seasons continue. But the actual reduction in the games mean fewer events on which to place bets. Unless bettors make that up by betting more on the remaining games, associated revenue, tax and otherwise, is likely to fall. And now a new... Read more →

The annual Army-Navy game is the only college football matchup I make a point to watch. Go Navy! This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has put such gridiron rivalries in jeopardy. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Johnny Bivera via Wikipedia Commons) The Mid-American Conference (MAC) today became the first Division 1 college football governing body to cancel its fall season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "There are simply too many unknowns to put our student athletes in these situations. This is simply a miserable decision," MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said. Yes, for the sports fans, schools, players and coaches,... Read more →

And be ready to pay tax on your winnings Quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Jimmy Garoppolo of the 49ers will lead their teams Sunday, Feb. 2, in Super Bowl LIV. Quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs and Jimmy Garoppolo of the 49ers will lead their teams Sunday, Feb. 2, in Super Bowl LIV. I've been to Las Vegas. I love that city. But I know nothing about betting. My gambling, aside from a half hour or so at a Sin City slot machine years ago, is losing a few bucks on a lottery ticket every time the Powerball... Read more →

I am not a basketball fan. And aside from the occasional lottery ticket purchase, I'm not a big bettor. So I am in the definite minority for the next few weeks. Most of the United States, including Obama and a visiting U.K. dignitary, are following college hoops playoff games. And many of these National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball fanatics are also betting on the games. Sure, a lot of the money is put into office pools and other casual betting options. But a big chunk of change also is put down at legal betting parlors. Vegas, baby! The Las... Read more →

When the classic board game Monopoly was created during the height of the Great Depression, its streets were named after the thoroughfares of Atlantic City, N.J. The residents of Monopoly City are proud of their game-related fame. In 1972, when the Commissioner of Public Works threatened to change the names of Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues, public outcry in the barrier island resort put an end to that bad idea. Nowadays there are hundreds of Monopoly editions specialized for other cities, as well as tweaked to tie into movies, television shows, sports teams (we own a NASCAR version) and other pieces... Read more →

Austin, so they tell me, is a hot, happening town full of creative folk doing impressive things in cool industries. And one of the biggest sectors, they also tell me, is video games. I have to rely on the word of others when it comes to video games. I'm old enough to remember Pong and the original Super Mario, but I've never been a big gamer. Apparently, I'm missing quite a bit, from entertainment, economic and tax perspectives. The Entertainment Software Association says that the video game industry generates more than $25 billion a year nationally. Texas ranked second nationally... Read more →

Casinos tend to like whales, those big-spending players who are willing to gamble large sums and generally leave a sizable amount at the betting parlors' tables. Well, things didn't work out so well for Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. One lucky blackjack player nearly single-handedly wiped out the Tropicana's April profit. Mark Giannantonio, Tropicana's outgoing chief executive officer, disclosed last week that the lone card player won $5.8 million, but he declined to release the gambler's name. "We ran very unlucky," Giannantonio told the Press of Atlantic City. "We had the single-largest winner in our history. If... Read more →

Not only did the Giants upset the Patriots in Sunday's Super Bowl, the New York football players and their betting fans upset the bookies, too. Nevada gambling regulators report that the state's sports betting operations lost a record $2.6 million on Super Bowl XLII. Jay Kornegay, the executive director of the Las Vegas Hilton race and sports book, told the Associated Press that "the anticipated large wagers that we expected on the Patriots just never materialized." The sports book losses took several forms: Some bettors picked the Giants to win outright on the "money line," taking home payouts of up... Read more →

Whether you just dropped a couple of bucks into the office Super Bowl pool, are in Vegas watching the game line (and your bank account) change all day, handed money over to a bookie or are bouncing between this blog and your online gambling account, the big money you make today when Da Bears beat the odds and win is taxable. The problem for the IRS, as detailed in this story, is that many people don't realize that Uncle Sam counts gambling winnings as taxable income. And even if they do, they tend to ignore the law. Obviously, it's a... Read more →