Page 4 - Southern California Gaming Guide • June 2020

AGA Urges Administration to Adjust Slot Reporting Threshold The American Gaming Association (AGA) announced on May 20th that it welcomed the Trump administration’s executive order to identify regulatory reform opportunities to promote job creation and economic growth. According to the AGA, the U.S. gaming industry has been among the most impacted sectors of the economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which required the temporary closure of all 989 commercial and Tribal casinos throughout the country. “As the gaming industry safely reopens and seeks to return to financial health, one critical area of regulatory reform the administration should consider is modernizing the $1,200 slot jackpot reporting threshold, which has been in place since 1977,” said Bill Miller, President and CEO of the American Gaming Association. “The current threshold is outdated and imposes significant compliance burdens on both the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the gaming industry.” In accordance with federal regulation, when a casino patron wins a slot machine jackpot of $1,200 or more, the machine is temporarily taken out of production while the patron is required to complete a w-2g tax reporting form. CSashless and Contactless Casino While slot jackpots have steadily increased with inflation over the past several decades, the $1,200 threshold that triggers the issuance of tax forms has remained static since it was established in 1977. A $1,200 jackpot in 1977 would be equivalent to more than $5,000 today, if adjusted for inflation. Because the threshold hasn’t tracked with inflation, there has been a significant increase in the number of reportable jackpots, causing more operational inefficiencies and adding to the sea of w-2g forms currently flooding an underbudgeted and understaffed IRS each year. Last year, the AGA again encouraged the Department of Treasury to update the slot jackpot reporting threshold to a “realistic level,” in line with inflation, such as $5,000. The increased threshold would not only enable the IRS to focus its limited enforcement resources on those taxpayers who are most likely to have net slot winnings at the end of the taxable year, but would also significantly reduce close interactions required between gaming employees and patrons to issue tax forms. “This policy change, supported by bipartisan members of Congress, was already long overdue prior to the pandemic, and now has additional importance as the gaming industry emerges from this crisis,” the AGA concluded. Almost four years ago the gaming industry and its congressional representatives pushed back on an effort by the IRS to lower the reporting threshold to $600. The IRS had also been considering requiring casinos to mandate electronic player tracking for tax reporting purposes. A grassroots effort led by the AGA helped to do away with those proposals. PAGE 4 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE JUNE 2020 cientific Games unveiled a suite of innovative contactless gaming solutions that will help casino operators keep their players and team members safe while maintaining a fun atmosphere. Responding to the need to develop solutions that support enhanced sanitation protocols and assist with social distancing measures in a post COVID-19 world, Scientific Games developed advanced technology solutions for casino operators. The suite of contactless solutions includes a Social Distancing Module, the Unified Wallet cashless gaming experience, and Automated Game Sanitization. The Social Distancing Module provides three features for casino operators: Dynamic Distancing, EGM Scheduler, and Resort and Game Reserve. These features provide further opportunities for casino operators to adhere to their safety measures. Dynamic Distancing facilitates social distancing amongst slot players, disabling all games within close proximity once a player cards in. EGM Scheduler allows operators to quickly upload a list of games that should remain enabled on the casino floor and even allows them to do so remotely through the use of a Control EGM feature. Resort Reserve and Game Reserve allow players to reserve their favorite game during their visit. Unified Wallet is a cashless gaming experience giving players the power to instantly access funds to play their favorite slots and tables through an app on their mobile devices. Cashless solutions are not only convenient for guests but are also cost-effective for casino operators. Unified Wallet eliminates lines to withdraw cash at atms or a casino cage to redeem tickets, and also reduces costs on machine maintenance including bill validators, ticket printers and ticket redemption kiosks. Keeping casino team members and guests in mind, the Automated Game Sanitization solution eliminates the manual task of searching for games that need to be sanitized on the casino floor by quickly identifying games that require sanitization after active play. Operators can also schedule sanitization at regular intervals for continued sanitization as well as anonymous play. June 2020 Gaming News