‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Has Silver Lining for Gamblers as Certain Tax Reporting Thresholds Increase
Posted on: July 14, 2025, 01:15h.
Last updated on: July 15, 2025, 03:49h.
Editor’s note: There is much confusion about whether the slot tax threshold was increased in the One Big Beautiful Bill. Please see our updated coverage here.
- The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” increases the slot tax threshold
- The legislation also caps gambling losses at 90% for tax purposes
- Nevada’s congressional delegation is seeking to restore the 100% deduction
President Donald Trump and the Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” has met stern opposition from Democrats and many gamblers, with the latter group raising grave concerns about a condition of the 870-page bill that caps gambling losses at 90%. However, a little silver lining for the gaming public is that tax reporting thresholds on certain winnings will increase under the law beginning next year.
Nevada’s congressional delegation continues to field bipartisan support to amend the OBBBA to fold on the condition that gamblers can only deduct up to 90% of their losses against their winnings. Before the bill, a gambler could deduct 100% of their losses against their winnings for their annual tax filings.
An element of the OBBBA that hasn’t garnered nearly the same media coverage as it relates to the gaming industry is “Section 70433 C — Application to Reporting on Remuneration for Services.” The text increases the tax reporting threshold on gambling winnings to $2,000.
The minimum win amount to initiate a W-2G form becomes effective Jan. 1, 2026. It is then increased annually based on inflation.
Under the Internal Revenue Services’ current tax code, a payer, or casino, must provide a player with a W-2G form and report the win to the federal government whenever a player wins $1,200 or more on a slot machine, $1,500 or more from keno, or $600 or more on a table game when the payout is at least 300 times the amount of the wager. Poker tournament winnings have a $5,000 minimum (reduced by the wager or buy-in).
Slot Tax Threshold in Focus
It’s been almost 50 years since the IRS tax threshold for slot wins was set at $1,200. The gaming industry has long been calling on Congress and the IRS to amend the tax code by raising the slot tax reporting threshold to $5,000 or more.
The current $1,200 rate burdens casinos with tax paperwork, takes a machine offline for around half an hour, and complicates the public’s annual tax filing. Earlier this year, US Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) filed the Shifting Limits on Thresholds (SLOTS) Act to increase the slot tax reporting trigger to $5,000.
At $5,000, the slot threshold would still be below what $1,200 would be today with inflation. The $1,200 trigger was implemented in 1977 — that equates to about $6,600 in July 2025.
The OBBBA raises the slots threshold by $800 — a far cry from the $3,800 increase Titus and Reschenthaler sought, but it is nonetheless an increase. It will be the first slot threshold increase in 48 years when it’s enacted in January.
Deduction Resumption Effort Ongoing
Titus is also leading the effort to restore the 100% gambling losses deduction. Her FAIR Bet Act (Fair Accounting for Income Realized from Betting Earnings Taxation) would remove the 10% reduction in the OBBBA. The FAIR Bet bill remains with the House Ways and Means Committee.
In the Senate, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) is behind companion legislation – the Facilitating Useful Loss Limitations to Help Our Unique Service Economy (FULL HOUSE Act), which, like the FAIR Bet Act, would restore the wagering losses deduction to 100%.
Both bills have garnered bipartisan support, but Cortez Masto claims GOP leaders are trying to “weight them down with unrelated measures.”
Last Comments ( 9 )
I don't think many understand the full impact on taxes of current law, when one uses the standard deduction because they don't have much to itemize. I'm in this scenario. I have to report all W2-G as income on page one, that in reality i lost 30 mins later. Yet, I cannot deduct the income on schedule A because it still won't be less tax than the standard deduction. So i'm being forced to pay taxes on wins i didn't win, and income i didn't walk out the door with. The only remedy is to raise the hand pay to $5000 or $6000. $2000 will help a little, if turns out to be true. If you are a slot player, write your congressman!
The AGA is pointing to a 2015 IRS webpage that references "Section 6041" with respect to gaming. The "Section 6041" referred to there is an IRS regulation with the same number as the US LAW referred to in the BBB. That's not a coincidence, but the BBB modified the LAW, not the regulation. It should be obvious that the BBB change is not related to gambling, if not from the plain words of the text in 26 USC 6041, but also in the fact that pre-BBB, the threshold in 26 USC 6041 was $600, not $1,200.
This article is completely wrong as the way the bill is voted in as of right now. W2 G stays at $1200, $2000 is for other obscure wins. please correct this because people are getting pissed off already
Tax law attorneys say it does, Sam. https://www.casino.org/news/nyu-tax-law-center-says-slot-tax-reporting-threshold-raised/
Did you check your reporting?? Because now a couple other sites picked up your story and now Google AI picked up their articles and is saying it's true. It's not true. And now people are spreading this false reporting. And every report points to your article! Just look at the section of the bill you reference. It says the current threshold is $600, not $1200, because it's a change to the tax law for miscellaneous payments on 1099-MISC, not gambling income on W-2G. There are going to be alot of pissed off gamblers in January when they get W-2Gs from casinos who are going to be pissed that they have to deal with angry gamblers because of this story. I don't even know how you fix this now that it's spreading today. I tried emailing you with proof but got a bounce back from an entirely different email address (hannah@legendcorp) than I sent it to.
I don't think this report is correct. Section 70433(C) says it increases the threshold from $600 to $2000 for the tax law section 6041a. That part of the tax law refers to 1099-MISC reportable income, not slot wins on W-2Gs. That's fir miscellaneous payments. The only miscellaneous payments gamblers get are from things like raffles and casino tournaments where there's no $ wager involved. So if you win a $1000 slot tournament (not considered gambling income), you will no longer get a 1099-MISC (like has happened to me). But nothing I find in the new bill changes handpays from $1200 to $2000. And this would be all over the internet if it was true. I urge you to check your reporting.
Thanks, Paul. Will do some more digging to make sure the report is correct.
To D's point, the threshold should move to $2,100 by 2027 which will then open up the $0.50 denomination to play without the burden of tax forms. It should just be changed to $5K now, but at least this is slightly better than nothing.
So nothing really changes. A 25¢ video poker player doesn't have any incentive to raise up to 50¢ or a buck denomination because it's not worth paying the taxes. Thanks for nothing