Can the Casinos Deduct Small TITOs as Donations When They're OPM?

At the casinos that only cash out your dollars, but not your cents from slot tickets, they normally ask if you'd like to donate your change to charity. They don't ask if you would like to give your change to the casino, so they can donate it to charity. They also don't give you a receipt for your charitable donation just in case the IRS questions your charitable donation. Do the casinos actually donate the change that people request to be donated? Do the casinos get a tax deduction for making charitable donations in their name? Is it legal for casinos to claim a deduction for money that is really other people's donations?

To answer the first question, we ran a question in May about how much money is collected from small-change TITOs, then donated to charity. Of course, we have no idea whether or not all casinos donate the coins they collect, but the ones that do are happy to publicize that fact, as can be seen in the previous QoD.

For the second question, we turned to our friend and LVA contributor Dapper Dave Kamsler, a CPA who's familiar with gambling-tax issues. Here's what he writes.

"As for the tax implications, I can see this working in two ways. First, the casinos report the 'donations' from players as additional income, then claim a charitable deduction for making a donation. Second, the casinos consider themselves temporary custodians of the funds that the players donate to charity and don't report them as income or a deduction.

"In the first scenario, the casino (rather than the player) would get a tax deduction, offset by the additional income they report in the same amount. Net, they don't benefit from donating money that wasn't theirs to begin with.

"In the second scenario, the player (in theory) is entitled to the tax deduction, but without a receipt or a cancelled check (since the donation is in cash), the player is technically not allowed to claim the deduction."

"In practice, I don't know which way it actually works."

But the scenarios make sense to us and, of course, to Dave. Do they make sense to you?

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Comments

O2bnVegas Sep-03-2025

Scrooge...

...would prefer a third option.  Nothing to charity!!

"Are there no workhouses?"  

LOL

Candy

vegasnow Sep-03-2025

Probably Revenue

I would guess the casinos opt to recognize the revenue and take the deduction (net zero impact). They are always going to like the option that allows them to boost their reported revenues.

VegasROX Sep-03-2025

Candy ?

Candy, if no to charity, the where does the money go,  acknowledge to the casino?? Some places give you a few charities to choose from, others just say charity. I'd prefer to know which and if no specific ones are noted, I just let it print out a ticket and instead of standing in line to get my 23 cents, I donate it to someone playing on a penny machine. So the other person doesn't get accused of taking money that wasn't theirs, I make sure to deposit it into their .aching myself a d wave to the camera above.

VegasROX Sep-03-2025

Edit button

I really really wish there was a way to go back to a response we have typed quickly and be able to edit what we typed so we don't look like we have no spelling knowledge at all! How auto spellcheck assumes we mean one thing when we clearly do not, has always been a mystery to me, and continues today.

O2bnVegas Sep-03-2025

@ VegasROX

Oh, heavens no, ROX! I wrote my words in jest, sort of, a dangerous thing to do 'cause sometimes folks can't 'get' ya when you do that.  I actually interpreted the original question to possibly be in chastizement of casinos IF they double dipped by pocketing the donation then turning around and claiming a tax deduction.  Which led me to bring up Charles Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge of A Christmas Carol fame.  

But thanks for asking.  Glad for the chance to explain.  If  you didn't get me, other would also be thinking I am Ms Scrooge.

I've come to appreciate the opportunity to quickly give the pittance of coinage to charity.  Perhaps it is the convenience of not having to 'wait' that few seconds for the ticket to pop up.  I scan the available options and select one that somehow speaks to me, though I don't linger long, don't struggle to decide which of them is more worthy.

Candy

sunny78 Sep-03-2025

No scrooge Candy

Candy, I think your jest actually is grounded in intelligence if looked at in a different way. While we are talking small change here, added up, I bet some real money goes to these charities via these machines in total years time. The issue for me is no matter what the charity is one donates to, I think one should definitely learn about the charity they are donating to in regards to how much of the money goes to the cause of the charity vs "admin". Anyone who has done research on this I think will frankly be stunned on what one can learn doing this research. And a casino isn't the place to learn what the charity is about and how much of the money goes to what who and how. And like in years past, these automated machines should spit out the full value to the player, no excuses in my view. I donate to charities on my own terms and after thorough research, not at a casino, no matter how small the amount is. It's a principal thing.

Llew Sep-03-2025

VegasROX

There isn’t a way (that I know of) to edit your post once it’s posted. However, you can add another post with corrections and/or explanations. To do this, you have to log off and log back in again.  This gives you another shot. 
OR you can just take an extra minute to proofread you original post before you post it. 😉
(Do I get a prize for the most times using the word post in one - sorry - post?) 😁

Question of the Day - 03 September 2025

Comments