The AGA said the full impact of the 2017 tax cuts will not be known until 2018 plays out.
On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed into law tax cuts for corporations and individuals which affects the American gambling industry, as it does most other sectors of the country. The US gambling industry received several big victories in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, though a few aspects of the new law provide challenges to casion corporations.
The American Gaming Association released its early assessment on what the tax cut bill means for gamblers and casino operators throughout the land.
The AGA noted that it will take time to see the impact of certain new tax provisions, but said the bill was good for the gambling industry as a whole.
Gambling Loss Deductions
For gamblers, the new law preserves the right to itemize their net gambling income. This was an important holdover which had been in some doubt. In the weeks prior to passage, several in the US Senate wanted to eliminate itemized deductions, but they remained in the final version of TXJA 2017.
In short, people who lose money gambling over a year’s time can deduct those losses. That is a major victory for US gamblers across the board. Despite that good news, every aspect of the tax cuts might not be to the advantage of American gamblers, so players should pay close attention in the coming months to their taxable winnings.
As one might expect, the tax cuts affect the casino industry most profoundly, so the effect on gamblers will mostly be indirectly. Below is the likely impact of the tax cuts on the casino industry.
Casino Debt Deductions
The bill also allowed gambling operations exemptions on their interest deductability. The bill provides transition provisions for all businesses which pay interest on corporate debt which most experts consider reasonable. The new tax law also sets proper incentives for research and development, which is considered a key item for a constantly changing casino industry.
The US casino industry currently is underdoing radical changes in its slot machine and electronic gambling machine niches. Casinos are adding skill-based slot machines to drive more millennial gamblers into their gaming floors, while adding electronic blackjack and roulette machines, eSports gambling machines, and virtual sports. Each would be affected by the R&D incentives in the 2017 tax breaks.
How AGA Plans to Lobby Congress in 2018
The American Gaming Association said, despite the various advantages described above, a few areas of the bill come up short. The AGA announced it would lobby the US Congress to include “fixes” in 2018 legislation aimed at patching overlooked parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
The AGA wants to raise the Slot Tax Reporting Threshold from $1200 to a much higher total. The current Slot Tax Reporting Threshold was installed in the 1970s, so the AGA believes the threshold should be adjusted for inflation over the past 40 years. $1200 from the 1970s would be worth $7080 in 2017 dollars, so the AGA argues the tax reporting threshold should be raised into the $5000 to $10,000 range.
Watching IRS and Treasury Department Policies
Such a large tax bill is certain to require new regulations and policies by the IRS in specific and the Treasury Department in general. The AGA vowed to keep a close eye on the emerging regulatory oversight of the gambling industry by these financial bodies of the US government, both for casino companies and individual gamblers.
The American Gaming Association believes the adjusted tax laws will have unintended consequences. For instance, doubling the standard deduction is certain to change the number of gamblers who choose to take the itemized deduction. The AGA plans to report on the general trend, so gamblers know how the wider cross-section of gamblers like themselves are reacting to the new laws.
