NTRA meets with Treasury, IRS officials over tax rules

Officials with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the racing industry met with representatives of the IRS and Treasury Department on Monday in Washington in an ongoing discussion over proposed changes to how parimutuel winnings are taxed, NTRA officials confirmed on Thursday.

Keith Chamblin, a senior vice president of the NTRA, declined to comment on the meeting aside from confirming that the IRS and Treasury requested the meeting. The NTRA has been lobbying both agencies to change tax reporting and withholding rules for parimutuel winnings in ways that would be beneficial to horseplayers.

Current tax rules require the reporting of any winnings at greater than 300-1 odds and require the withholding of taxes from any payout at greater than those odds and in excess of $5,000. The NTRA has been pressing for changes that would allow horseplayers to use the total amount wagered in a pool as the basis for triggering the requirements, rather than the base wager. The changes would significantly reduce the number of winning tickets that trigger the requirements.

Earlier this year, the NTRA expressed optimism that the IRS and Treasury would adopt the changes. The agencies would need to subject the new rules to a public-comment period before they could be inserted into the tax code.

The current tax rules were adopted in 1978. The NTRA has argued that the rules are outdated due to the rapid growth in exotic wagering since the 1970s.