You may have heard that the IRS is thinking of raising the reporting threshold for slot jackpots. But even if they don’t, the Handpay Reduction Act being could raise the reporting limit anyway. Representatives Dina Titus of Nevada and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania have brought forth a bill which would mandate a change if the IRS failed to act on the matter. Titus has been advocating for this regulatory change, introducing bills in 2020 and 2022, albeit without advancing past the committee stage. Recent developments, however, seem to suggest that pushing the Handpay Reduction Act  may be unnecessary. In November,…

The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced Monday that they will formally adopt modernized regulations for horse racing regarding the withholding and reporting of pari-mutuel proceeds. The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has long pressed for these updated regulations that will allow horseplayers to keep more of their winnings, thereby increasing the amount wagered on U.S. pari-mutuel racing by as much as 10 percent annually, or upwards of $1 billion, according to independent estimates. The new rules were posted late Monday afternoon as a Public Inspection Document. They are scheduled to be officially published in Wednesday’s edition of…

American Gaming Association (AGA) President and CEO Geoff Freeman released the following statement after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today released its final regulation on its 2015 proposal for tax reporting of slot winnings. “Today’s final IRS regulation is a big win not only for gaming companies and millions of casino visitors, but also for state and local governments who would have received fewer gaming tax dollars as a result of what would have been burdensome federal requirements,” said Freeman. “Our grassroots campaign mobilized thousands of casino customers, members of Congress from 11 states urged restraint and compelling research demonstrated…

While the casino world focuses on fighting an IRS plan to track slot jackpots starting at $600, a little-noticed companion proposal would benefit gamblers, a tax expert says. The proposed change in Internal Revenue Service procedure would establish a “playing session” concept, which could allow players to report less gambling income on their tax return than what is listed on a W2-G the casino issues to jackpot winners and the IRS. “The IRS is actually doing something that’s taxpayer-friendly with the session method,” says Marissa Chien, co-author of “Tax Help for Gamblers” (Huntington Press) and president of Advantage Tax Plus…

The American Gaming Association has spoken out against a proposal by the Internal Revenue Service that would involve electronic player tracking on casino gaming devices. During a recent IRS hearing, CEO and President of the American Gaming Association, Geoff Freeman, testified that the gaming group is in disagreement with the recent proposal that involves player tracking. The IRS has proposed that casino loyalty cards used by players, be used as an electronic tracking device to be used for the purpose of tax reporting. However, the process of equipping the marketing tool for such activity would prove to be difficult as…

Las Vegas Review Journal – Nearly a year after the launch of real money online poker in Nevada, there’s a new wave of players who must pay taxes on Web poker winnings from 2013. In the years before regulated online gambling, offshore sites that skirted the law to attract U.S. players may not have cooperated with the Internal Revenue Service. But the legislation passed in Nevada and two other states means that the IRS has the means to easily trace online winnings. Nevada’s first regulated real money site, UltimatePoker.com, launched in April 2013, and WSOP.com followed later in the year….