Money
Taxes and records
Winnings are taxable income. Set up your records on day one, keep them all year, and bring a clean picture to a tax professional.
The short version
In the US, gambling winnings are taxable income, and that includes sports betting at licensed books. You owe tax on them whether or not a book sends you a form. We cannot give tax advice: how the rules apply depends on your situation and the law for that year, so talk to a tax professional.
The best time to have that conversation is before your first withdrawal, not in April. Bring the records below.
Watch out: no form from a book does not mean no tax. Books send forms such as a W-2G only for certain wins, but all winnings count as income.
Why records matter more when you bet both sides
Every pair you place has two bets, and one of them usually wins. Over a year, your winning bets can add up to many times what you actually made, because the other side of each pair lost. Your total wagered will be bigger still.
Those are three different numbers: what you wagered, what your winning bets paid, and what you ended up with. A tax professional needs to see all of them, with every bet on both sides. Only complete records show that.
What to keep
- Every deposit and withdrawal, with the date, the book and the amount.
- Every bet, both sides: date, book, side, odds, stake and result, including bonus bets.
- Each book's own history. Licensed books show your transactions and bet history in your account. Save a copy at the end of each year: it is the book's own record of what you did there.
- Any tax forms a book sends you, filed with the rest.
Keep them in BreadSync as you go
Two free screens build the record as you go, so you are not piecing it together in April. Bankroll holds the money moving in and out. My Bets holds every bet.
Do it in BreadSync
Bankroll
Every deposit and withdrawal per book, with dates, and your profit across all of them.
- 1.Log each deposit with "Add Deposit" and each cash-out with "Add Withdrawal", dated the day it happened.
- 2.Click a book's name to see its "Deposits" and "Withdrawals" tables and its full activity.
- 3.Once a week, compare each balance with the book's own. If they differ, a deposit, withdrawal or bet is missing.
Do it in BreadSync
My Bets
Both sides of every pair, grouped together and graded when the game ends.
- 1.Log both legs right after placing them: the green bookmark ("Add to Tracker") on an Odds Screen row, or "Add Bet" > "Hedge".
- 2.Pick the game in "Search Game" so the bet grades itself, and tick "Bonus Bet" on any bonus leg.
- 3.Never delete old bets. Use the "Book" filter to see one book at a time.
For the big picture, Analytics on “Lifetime” shows your Total Wagered next to your Total Profit, so you can see how far apart those numbers are.
Once a year
- 1In January, save each book's history for the past year, plus any forms it sent.
- 2Check that your Bankroll deposits and withdrawals match each book's own record.
- 3Take the books' records and forms to your tax professional. If they ask about a single deposit or bet, Bankroll and My Bets have it.
Treat it like any side income: records all year, one conversation with a professional, no surprises. Cash out and track it