Dropped: 25% Withholding Tax on Poker Tournament Winnings

As first reported on PokerNews.com here (and inaccurately reported a couple of stories down here), the proposed IRS rule to withhold 25% of all poker tournament earnings over $5,000 isn't going to happen.

Reports PokerNews.com:

According to Wally Chalmers, Vice President of the American Gaming Association, a powerful group that works on behalf of land-based casino interests, the 25%-withholding idea was abandoned after an assessment of the rule's viability and negotiations with the IRS's rules-making group. The AGA's Tax and Finance Task Force played an important role in lobbying against the proposal, which would have both significantly increased casinos' reporting burden and reduced the liquidity of tourney pros as they move from one event to the next.

This turn/clarification of events directly disputes earlier reports that the 25% withholding rule had already passed. Under the AGA's new guidelines, players will be issued something like a W-2G form to declare their winnings.

For more on the story, here. For more on Irwin R. Schyster, here.