Hand pay

Hand pays also occur whenever the amount of the win is over the minimum taxable win amount for the jurisdiction that the machine is in. Hand paying allows a floor attendant to collect the patron's identification and tax ID numbers (such as the Social Security number in the United States), and other pertinent information, such as the winning combination.[1] The patron is then provided with the applicable tax forms. In the United States, a hand pay will normally occur for slot machine or electronic bingo winnings over $1,199.99,[2] which is the amount above which winnings must be reported to the IRS; some states may have lower thresholds where the taxes must be reported to the state revenue office. Citizens of the United States winning in that country will receive a W-2G tax form, and often a W-9 form to validate that the Social Security number they provided is correct.[3]

To perform a hand pay, a floor attendant may complete a form which the patron presents to the cash cage to be paid out. In other casinos, the floor attendant will retrieve the funds and pay the patron directly. (The latter is typical for hand pays resulting from taxable wins.) Most casinos will require an electronic record of the hand pay to be made through the slot accounting system.