ON THE SIDELINES : Rose Doesn’t See Why He Had to Report Track Winnings to IRS

Pete Rose has no clue when a federal grand jury in Cincinnati will complete an investigation of his taxes.

However, Rose inadvertently gave a clue about one avenue for the investigation when he said in an interview with the Associated Press that he never claimed his race track earnings on his taxes--a requirement under federal law. He said he never did so because he always lost money on his track betting in the long run, so he did not feel obliged to report his winnings.

“I guarantee you that over the years, like most of us--I think the IRS knows this--I will lose more money than I win at the track,” Rose said in the interview Thursday.

Federal law requires that all gambling winnings must be reported as income but can be offset by gambling losses up to the amount that a person won. Just because a gambler lost money overall does not excuse them from reporting their winnings under federal law.

“I didn’t approach the track as a business,” Rose said. “I see guys go over there that don’t have a job, and they collect every ticket and they stamp it to their program and stuff like that and they file at the end of the year (on their taxes).

“It was entertainment for me. It wasn’t a business. I don’t want to sit down and start complicating my taxes with Daily Double tickets and Quinella tickets and stuff. I don’t need all of that.”