Why Players and Casinos hate New IRS Slots Plan

irs-slotsAs if people didn’t already hate the IRS enough, the U.S. tax collectors are now trying to further involve themselves in slots. Specifically, the IRS wants to lower the size of a slots win that must be declared from $1,200 down to $600. That said, let’s discuss the reasons why both players and casinos will hate this plan if it’s actually enacted.

Slots Players’ Take

It’s pretty simply why players would hate this proposed rule: it increases the chances that they’ll be paying taxes on slots wins! $1,200 is a pretty big slots prize, so it’s not so ridiculous to want taxes paid on this amount or higher. But now the IRS wishes to halve this amount to $600, which means far more taxes and headaches for slots players.

Another problem here is that the U.S. is already dealing with casino saturation. And lowering the declared-slots win figure only serves as another deterrent to avoid going to the casino. The likely scenario is that people will stay home and play online slots at unregulated sites to avoid taxes on winnings.

progressive-slotsCasinos’ Take

Casinos don’t like the IRS slots tax rule because it means their machines will be down longer. A big part of gaming business is keeping slot machines filled and running. But when somebody has to stop their game and let casino officials take their information and record big wins, it brings profits to a halt.

“Lowering the reporting threshold on gaming winnings is a major mistake,” said Geoff Freeman, president of the American Gaming Association. “To cut the threshold in half will cause burdensome unnecessary paperwork and will severely undermine the customer experience.”

According to NJ.com, Atlantic City casinos are staunchly against any such rule and are willing to fight the matter. Given that Atlantic City casinos are already struggling as it is, they can’t afford more factors that could potentially bring their revenue down. So don’t be surprise if casinos fight the IRS so hard that this rule never comes to fruition.