On December 30, 2016, the IRS released the final regulation on the 2015 proposal for tax reporting of slot winnings. After the proposal was announced, the American Gaming Association (AGA) convened experts from member companies for regular meetings to assess each aspect of the proposal, build consensus, and formulate an effective response. The AGA filed comments on the draft IRS proposal and testified at the IRS hearing on the proposed rules regarding electronic player tracking regulations. Five speakers provided testimony during the public hearing, and over 14,000 written public comments were received. The IRS took into account the written comments and statements made during the hearing and modified the proposed regulations.
Modifications to the IRS final ruling included the following:
- Drops electronic player tracking proposal altogether (AGA opposed)
- Drops its conceptual idea of lowering slot win reporting thresholds (AGA opposed)
- On the optional aggregation method, payee ID, and other provisions, the final regulation incorporated many of AGA’s technical suggestions.
Read IRS Federal Register, Information Returns; Winnings from Bingo, Keno, and Slot Machines