Louisiana’s Declaration of Emergency – Income Tax Withholding on Gaming Revenue
(From John Pappas) It was brought to my attention (Thank you Kevin Vonasek!) that the LA Dept. of Revenue issued a new emergency rule that requires sports betting and DFS operators to issue a w2 and withhold taxes from players on any winnings/payouts over $1,200.00 – see rule attached. I’m not aware of other states that have this requirement and it seems at odds with the federal IRS withholding requirements for sports betting.
From what I understand this new regulation was issued without the knowledge of the Gaming Board and that the Department of Revenue could drop this all together. If there is concern about this new rule amongst our members, I think it would be worthwhile for iDEA to issue comment, or contact the Department of Revenue directly.
Most importantly, it would be helpful to know if any of you had to address this issue elsewhere and if so, what the strongest arguments were to push back. I know that the Louisiana Casino Association is planning an internal call with its members on Friday to discuss next steps.