Slot Reporting Threshold Set to Go Up – It’s All Big Beautiful Bill’s Doing

As lawmakers and gamblers grumble about Big Beautiful Bill, the colloquial turn of phrase for President Donald Trump’s cornerstone economic policy, one immediate effect from the bill’s passage could be, other than not having your full deductibles on your gambling losses, raising the minimum reporting threshold for slots.

Slot Reporting Threshold Set to Change

This has been a particularly painful point for players and casinos, with both groups bogged down in seemingly unnecessary red tape. The slot threshold, which stands at $1,200 and asks players to fill out a W-2G tax form on-site, has not been updated in decades. It has been fixed at $1,200 since 1977, when the last change was applied.

Now, President Trump’s signature bill could essentially prompt a revision of IRS Code Section 6041, and thus increase the threshold to $2,000, accounting for inflation, giving gamblers more leeway to hit jackpots without having to fill out tax forms over seemingly unimportant wins.

However, for this to happen, it would require acquiescence from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which would have to review the matter and come up with a decision. Industry financial experts, though, argue that the Big Beautiful Bill has already created the basis for this change to happen.

The ball is in the regulator’s court. No casino has acted on its own just yet, and no one is hurrying to change the reporting threshold without clear guidance from the regulator, but there is anticipation.

A Long Overdue Change

American Gaming Association SVP of government relations Chris Cylke has welcomed this potential change, though, and argued that the move has been long overdue.

“Raising the slot tax reporting threshold to $2,000 and indexing it to inflation is a long-overdue modernization that reduces regulatory burdens and improves the customer experience.”

Cylke has called this potential change in the slot reporting limit an important win for the industry and one that will bring plenty of headaches for operators and gamblers. However, the Big Beautiful Bill would also benefit gamblers by making them eligible to pay 10% of their gambling losses even if they break even.

Lawmakers in Nevada are seeking to address this on a state level and push back, allowing gamblers’ losses to be 100% deductible.