What is the requirement for taxpayers to itemize their gambling losses on their tax return?

Taxpayers are required to itemize their deductions in order to claim their gambling losses on their tax return. This means that if a taxpayer wants to deduct losses incurred from gambling activities, they cannot simply take the standard deduction; they must provide a detailed account of their itemized deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040. The itemized deductions include various categories, and gambling losses are specifically reported there but only up to the amount of gambling winnings reported for the year. This requirement ensures a direct and accurate correlation between losses and winnings, reinforcing the principle that taxpayers can only deduct losses to the extent of their winnings.