Senate Committee OKs Pari-Mutuel Tax Changes
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Efforts to change pari-mutuel wagering taxes continue to move forward
Industry efforts to change how threshold levels for tax reporting and withholding on winning pari-mutuel wagers are defined continues to pick up momentum in Washington, D.C.
The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations June 16 passed the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2017. The bill makes appropriations for the United States Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, and certain other government agencies.
A companion bill that passed out of committee in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier in June includes language that encourages the IRS to modernize regulations for withholding and reporting of pari-mutuel winnings. Recent actions by the Senate and House are the latest in a concerted, industry-wide effort to modernize regulations relating to pari-mutuel winnings.
Updates proposed by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association would clarify regulations by redefining the "amount of the wager" to include all of a bettor's investment into a single pari-mutuel pool, and not simply the base amount of the winning combination. The effort has received support from Congress as well as all segments of the horseracing industry, including customers who last year submitted nearly 12,000 comments to the Treasury and IRS in support of the proposed change.
Language in the Senate Appropriations Committee report reads: "Guidelines for Pari-mutuel Winnings—The committee appreciates the Department of the Treasury's proposed rule (REG-132253-11) published on March 4, 2015, along with the associated public hearing held on June 17, 2015. The committee encourages the Treasury to expedite final consideration of the guidance which would modernize the rules governing pari-mutuel wagering."
"We thank the Senate Appropriations Committee members for including this language in the appropriations bill report and urge Treasury to act now to modernize the withholding and reporting of winning pari-mutuel wagers," NTRA president Alex Waldrop said in a release.