NTRA Reveals Federal Agenda for 2015

Economic issues, along with Internet gaming, immigration and racehorse drug and therapeutic medication regulation and testing are the issues of highest priority in the federal legislative agenda for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association for the 114th Congress, which convened in January. 

In the previous Congress, the NTRA was able to secure passage of three bills critical to the horse racing industry: standardized, 3-year depreciation for racehorses, a bonus depreciation structure which permits taxpayers to depreciate 50% of qualified property in the year it is purchased and placed into service (e.g. yearlings and farm equipment); and the expanded Sec. 179 expense allowance pegged at $500,000 with a $2 million threshold for qualified new or used property purchased and placed in service (e.g. broodmares, racing and stallion prospects). These provisions were extended for one year in 2014 and will be up for renewal in 2015. 

This year's federal agenda looks to continue the 3-year-depreciation while seeking to secure a longer extension of this provision along with bonus depreciation and the current levels for Sec. 179 expensing. The modernization of tax withholding and reporting requirements will also feature prominently on the NTRA agenda in the nation's capital. Rules currently in place do not reflect the modern wagering climate, the NTRA argues. The organization is now approaching this issue by seeking a clarification of the “amount wagered” from the Department of Treasury. NTRA believes that modernizing the way the IRS calculates the amount wagered to include all money bet into a single pool on a winning wager would eliminate many of the reporting and withholding tickets and simplify racetrack IRS reporting obligations. 

“The NTRA will continue to work with Treasury and its Congressional allies to push for this modernization, which will greatly improve the economics of pari-mutuel wagering for all concerned,” Waldrop said. “The NTRA will be reaching out to all segments of the horse racing industry, including horseplayers, to coordinate and solicit comments in support of this important tax clarification.” 

Bills regarding medication regulation and testing, likely to include some sort of federal oversight, are also expected to re-emerge in the current Congress. 

“The NTRA has taken no position on these bills as our membership remains divided on the issue of federal or central authority over testing for banned substances and the regulation of therapeutic medications,” Waldrop commented. “However, the association continues to provide information and data to interested parties and remains committed to achieving consensus on this issue.”