New IRS Regulations for Horse Racing

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…

IRS Abandons Ridiculous Gambling Tax Hike

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…

Little Known IRS Plan Could Help Gamblers

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 IRS Wants to Track your Penny Slot Play

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…

Regulation of online poker deals in IRS on winnings

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….

Court Rejects U.S. Tax Practice on Foreign Gamblers

Foreign gamblers cannot be taxed on every winning bet they make in U.S. casinos when they end up losing money overall, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, rejecting current Internal Revenue Service policy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the IRS must treat foreign gamblers the same way it taxes U.S. bettors when they visit a casino. “After a night of gambling, it’s no fun to walk out of the casino a loser,” wrote Judge Brett Kavanaugh for a unanimous three-judge panel. “But it’s even worse when the IRS, on your way…