Event contracts: treatments named, none chosen.
Educational notes for people who bet on sports or trade event contracts. This page does not tell you what to file, which method to use, or what you owe.
Source: Topic no. 419, Gambling income and losses. Last reviewed 11-Jun-2026 on the live IRS page cited for this draft.
Topic 419 is an IRS page about gambling income and losses. It does not reprint a heading for online event contracts.
Four treatments appear in current commentary. This page adopts none of them.
- Section 1256 / marked-to-market
- Capital gain or loss
- Ordinary income
- Wagering / gambling treatment under the rules Topic 419 and Publication 529 describe
Do not pick. A later expert reviewer, not this draft, would have to speak before any of those four is used as public copy. This page does not invent a form a platform issues.
Educational notes, not tax advice.