As I’ve said in the past, there are several states where being an amateur gambler is not a great thing. Wisconsin is one of those states. Yet another amateur gambler found that out the hard way.
Carol Kubsch reported $473,075 of gambling winnings and losses as an amateur, and discovered that on her Wisconsin tax return that led to $30,000 of taxes on phantom income. So she amended her returns, and tried to be considered a professional. As Taxdood reported, that didn’t work out well: “Unfortunately, a taxpayer can’t simply categorize oneself the type of gambler that produces the lesser tax bill. The professional versus amateur gambler status is a facts and circumstances determination.”
She might have gotten away with this if she hadn’t filed amended returns. Every amended return is looked at by a human.