Yarmuth, Boustany Pen Joint Letter to Treasury Urging Action On Modernization of Pari-Mutuel Tax Rules

Two U.S. congressmen, Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) and  Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), have submitted a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew urging finalization of proposed rule changes regarding withholding and reporting of pari-mutuel winnings.

In the text, Yarmuth and Boustany highlight the bipartisan support the new guideline enjoys, as well as recent congressional activity on the matter and the pari-mutuel wagering industry’s economic impact. The letter concludes: “As you are well aware, it has been more than a year since the proposed rule was first published and, as such, we strongly encourage you to act on this matter by finalizing the proposed rule.”

A PDF file of the complete letter can be accessed here.

The letter comes on the heels of language in a House Appropriations Committee Report issued last week that accompanied House passage of the 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill. That report instructed the U.S. Treasury “to expedite final consideration of the guidance which would modernize the rules governing pari-mutuel wagering.”

A companion bill in the Senate containing identical “Guidelines for Pari-mutuel Winnings” has been passed out of committee and now awaits passage by the full Senate. Ratification of the Senate appropriations bill would not result in the proposed rule changes becoming law; the IRS and U.S. Treasury must approve changes to their regulations.

Recent actions by the House and Senate are the latest in a concerted, industry-wide effort to modernize regulations relating to pari-mutuel winnings. Updates proposed by the NTRA 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 Members of Congress as well as all segments of the horse racing industry, including customers, who last year submitted nearly 12,000 comments to the Treasury and IRS in support of the proposed change.