Legislation
US – Court rules IRS must change foreign gambler tax
By Phil - 15 July 2013
A US federal appeals court has ordered that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can no longer tax foreigner gamblers on each bet they make in US. casinos.
Whilst table games such as craps, roulette, blackjack and baccarat were already excused from the tax-per-bet rule, the IRS’s policy was previously to tax foreign gamblers 30 per cent each time they won a bet for casino games such as bingo, slots and poker, without any regard for their losses during the same play. In contrast to this, the IRS taxes US gamblers on net gains per session when they cash out.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh, of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, said: “After a night of gambling, it’s no fun to walk out of the casino a loser. But it’s even worse when the IRS, on your way out, tries to tax you on each individual bet that you happened to win over the course of your losing night.”
