[Todd Terry]

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Is it safe to assume that if the Congress were still Republican this would not have happened?

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This has nothing to do with Congress.

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Oh, really? Why don't you read how the US Tax Code is enacted, and then report back to me.

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It actually doesn't really have anything to do with Congress.

This change is the result of a regulation, not a change in the tax code.

Tax regulations are passed by the IRS, which is an executive agency. The Commissioner of the IRS and other employees of the agency are appointed by the president.

If Congress doesn't like a regulation that the IRS has promulgated, they can change the tax code to override it. The Court could also rule that the regulation is not a reasonable interpretation of the code. But as it is, this change was the result of executive branch action alone.

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It is actually a Revenue Procedure, which is lower on the totem pole than a regulation promulgated than the IRS. It is basically a statement by the IRS regarding their belief as to what the law requires, and no one is under any legal obligation to follow it, although obviously not following it is risky.

This particular Revenue Procedure is the IRS's position with respect to an existing law, a law with which the casinos are very familiar, and a law which the casinos had previously determined, obviously upon the advice of their attorneys, did not apply to poker tournaments. Perhaps these casinos will continue to follow their previous interpretation of the law, or challenge the Revenue Procedure as not being an accurate interpretation of the law, or they will just throw in the towel and start withholding.