Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
Posted: Jan. 11, 2017
The National Thoroughbred Racing Association Jan. 11 said it has set up an email system whereby proponents of changes in pari-mutuel tax reporting and withholding can submit comments.
The NTRA late in 2016 announced that the United States Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service published proposed guidelines that would modernize withholding and reporting for wagers on horse races. The language clarifies the amount of a wager to reflect the total amount of a wager rather than the winning base amount invested in a single pool.
“A unified message of support is critical as the industry urges Treasury and the IRS to finalize the proposed regulations,” NTRA President Alex Waldrop said in a release. “We ask all who participate in the horseracing industry to submit a comment to Treasury and the IRS using the NTRA system so that we can send the message loud and clear that all of horse racing supports these changes.”
Comments can be submitted at NTRA.com/comment.
The NTRA submitted a response to the 31-page Treasury document titled “Withholding on Payments of Certain Gambling Winnings.” Waldrop asked the federal agencies to approve the new language as quickly as possible after the comment period closes March 30.
The NTRA has estimated the change in rules could generate tens of millions of dollars in pari-mutuel handle through churn, because bettors will be keeping more their winnings. In a letter to the IRS, Waldrop also said the language “will not only promote greater compliance and more accurate reporting by taxpayers but also reduce burdensome and needless paperwork system-wide.”
The NTRA has lobbied for pari-mutuel reporting and withholding changes for more than two years.
The proposed regulations are available here.
(Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Treasury)