Form 730

(Rev. December 2012) 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Monthly Tax Return for Wagers 

(Section 4401 of the Internal Revenue Code) ▶ Information about Form 730 and its instructions is available at www.irs.gov/form730.

OMB No. 1545-0235 

For IRS Use Only 

Enter your 

name, 

address, 

employer 

identification 

number, 

and 

month and 

year of 

return. 

▲

Name 

Number, street, and room or suite no. 

City, state, and ZIP code 

Month and year 

Employer identification number 

T 

FF 

FD 

FP 

I 

T 

Check applicable boxes: Final return Address change 

1 Gross amount of wagers accepted during month (not including laid-off wagers) (see instructions) . . 1 

2 Gross amount of laid-off wagers accepted during month (see instructions) . . . . . . . . 2 

3 Add lines 1 and 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

4a Tax on wagers authorized under the law of the state in which 

accepted. Enter the amount of these wagers included in line 

3; multiply by the amount shown and enter the result . . . $ × .0025 = 4a 

b Tax on wagers other than wagers described on line 4a. Enter 

the amount of these wagers included in line 3; multiply by the 

amount shown and enter the result . . . . . . . . . $ × .02 = 4b 

c Tax on wagers. Add lines 4a and 4b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4c 

5 Credits. No credit is allowed unless supported by evidence (see instructions) . . . . . . . 5 

6 Balance due. Subtract line 5 from line 4c (see instructions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

File this return, your payment, and voucher with the IRS as shown under Where to file in the instructions. Make your check or money 

order payable to “United States Treasury.” Write your name, address, EIN, and “Form 730” on it. 

Sign 

Here 

Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return, including any accompanying certificates and statements, and to the best of my 

knowledge and belief, it is true, correct, and complete. Declaration of preparer (other than taxpayer) is based on all information of which preparer has any 

knowledge.

Keep a copy 

of this return 

for your 

records. 

▲

Signature 

Type or print your name below signature. 

▲

Date 

Paid 

Preparer 

Use Only

Print/Type preparer’s name Preparer's signature Date Check if 

self-employed

PTIN

Firm’s name ▶ Firm's EIN ▶

Firm's address ▶ Phone no.

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 2. Cat. No. 20585U Form 730 (Rev. 12-2012) 

▼ Detach Here and Mail With Your Payment and Form 730. ▼ Form 730-V 

Form 

730-V 

(Rev. December 2012) 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Payment Voucher 

▶ Do not staple or attach this voucher to your payment.

OMB No. 1545-0235

1 Enter your employer identification 

number. 

2 

Enter the amount of your payment. ▶

Make your check or money order payable to “United States Treasury”

Dollars Cents 

3 Enter year and month as shown on Form 730. 

Y Y Y Y M M 

Send Form 730, this voucher, and payment to: 

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Cincinnati, OH 45999-0100 

4 Enter your business name (individual name if sole proprietor). 

Enter your address. 

Enter your city, state, and ZIP code.
Form 730 (Rev. 12-2012) Page 2 

Form 730-V, Payment Voucher 

Purpose of Form 

Complete Form 730-V if you are making a payment by check or 

money order with Form 730, Monthly Tax Return for Wagers. We 

will use the completed voucher to credit your payment more 

promptly and accurately, and to improve our service to you. 

If you have your return prepared by a third party and a 

payment is required, provide this payment voucher to the return 

preparer. 

Do not file Form 730-V if you are paying the balance due on 

Form 730, line 6, using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System 

(EFTPS). See Line 6 on page 4 for more information. 

Specific Instructions 

Box 1. If you do not have an EIN, you may apply for one online. 

Go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov/businesses/small and click 

on the “Employer ID Numbers (EINs)” link. You may also apply 

for an EIN by telephone by calling 1-800-829-4933, or you can 

fax or mail Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification 

Number, to the IRS. 

Box 2. Enter the amount paid from line 6 of Form 730. 

Box 3. Enter the same date you entered on page 1 of Form 730. 

Box 4. Enter your name and address as shown on Form 730. 

• Enclose your check or money order made payable to the 

“United States Treasury.” Be sure to enter your EIN, “Form 730,” 

and the tax period on your check or money order. Do not send 

cash. Do not staple this voucher or your payment to Form 730 

(or to each other). 

• Detach the completed voucher and send it with your payment 

and Form 730. See Where to file on page 3 of Form 730. 

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information on 

Form 730 to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the United 

States. You are required to give us the information. We need it to 

ensure that you are complying with these laws and to allow us to 

figure and collect the right amount of tax. Section 4401 of the 

Internal Revenue Code imposes a tax on wagering. Form 730 is 

used to determine the amount of the tax. Routine uses of this 

information include giving it to the Department of Justice for civil 

and criminal litigation, and to cities, states, and the District of 

Columbia, and U.S. commonwealths and possessions for use in 

administering their tax laws. We may also disclose this information 

to other countries under a tax treaty, to federal and state agencies 

to enforce federal nontax criminal laws, or to federal law 

enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat terrorism. If you 

fail to provide this information in a timely manner or provide false 

information, you may be liable for penalties and interest. 

You are not required to provide the information requested on a 

form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act unless the 

form displays a valid OMB control number. Books or records 

relating to a form or its instructions must be retained as long as 

their contents may become material in the administration of any 

Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and return 

information are confidential, as required by section 6103. 

The time needed to complete and file Form 730 will vary 

depending on individual circumstances. The estimated average 

times are: Recordkeeping, 5 hrs., 30 min.; Learning about the 

law or the form, 1 hr., 3 min.; Preparing, copying, assembling, 

and sending the form to the IRS, 2 hrs., 23 min. 

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these time 

estimates or suggestions for making Form 730 simpler, we 

would be happy to hear from you. You can write to: 

Internal Revenue Service 

Tax Products Coordinating Committee 

SE:W:CAR:MP:T:M:S 

1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 

Washington, DC 20224 

Do not send Form 730 to this address. Instead, see Where to file 

on page 3. 
Form 730 (Rev. 12-2012) Page 3 

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless 

otherwise noted. 

Future developments. The IRS has created a page on 

IRS.gov for information about Form 730 and its instructions 

at www.irs.gov/form730. Information about any future 

developments affecting Form 730 (such as legislation 

enacted after we release it) will be posted on that page.

General Instructions 

Who must file. You must file Form 730 and pay the tax on 

wagers under section 4401(a) if you: 

• Are in the business of accepting wagers, 

• Conduct a wagering pool or lottery, or 

• Are required to be registered and you received wagers 

for or on behalf of another person but did not report that 

person’s name and address. 

Use Form 11-C, Occupational Tax and Registration 

Return for Wagering, to register. 

Exempt organizations. Organizations exempt from 

income tax under section 501 or 521 are generally not 

exempt from the tax on wagering or the occupational tax. 

However, see Lottery below for an exception. 

Completing Form 730. If you are not using the 

preaddressed Form 730, enter your name, address, 

employer identification number (EIN), and the month (MM) 

and year (YYYY) for which this form is filed. 

Rounding. You may round amounts to whole dollars. If 

you do round, leave the entry for the cents amounts blank. 

You can drop amounts that are less than 50 cents, and 

increase amounts that are 50 cents or more to the next 

whole dollar. If you do round, do so for all amounts. But if 

you have to add two or more amounts to figure the amount 

to enter on a line, include cents when adding and only 

round off the total. 

When to file. If you are liable for the tax, file Form 730 for 

each month by the last day of the month following the 

month for which you are reporting taxable wagers. The IRS 

will not send you a notice that a return is due. File a return 

each month whether or not you have taxable wagers to 

report. If you have no tax to report, write “None” in the entry 

space for line 6 and sign and date Form 730. If you stop 

accepting wagers, check the final return box above 

line 1. 

Where to file. Mail your return to:

Department of Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Cincinnati, OH 45999-0100

Specific Instructions 

Line 1. Enter the gross amount of wagers accepted during 

the month. Gross wagers are the total of those wagers that 

are authorized and those wagers that are not authorized by 

the state in which they are accepted. Include all charges 

connected with placing the wager, including any fee or 

charge incident to placing the wager. If you can prove that 

the person placing the wager has paid a separate charge 

equal to the tax, do not include that amount in the amount 

of the wager. Do not include laid-off wagers in this amount. 

What is taxed. The tax applies only to wagers accepted 

in the United States or placed by a person who is in the 

United States with a person who is a U.S. citizen or 

resident. 

Taxable wagers include those placed: 

• On a sports event or contest with a person engaged in 

the business of accepting wagers on a sports event or 

contest;

• In a wagering pool on a sports event or contest if the 

pool is conducted for profit; or 

• In a lottery conducted for profit, including the numbers 

game, policy, punch boards, and similar types of wagering. 

Sports event. A sports event includes every type of 

amateur, scholastic, or professional sports competition, 

such as auto racing, baseball, basketball, billiards, 

bowling, boxing, cards, checkers, cricket, croquet, dog 

racing, football, golf, gymnastics, hockey, horse racing, 

lacrosse, rugby, soccer, squash, tennis, track, tug of war, 

and wrestling. 

Contest. A contest is any competition involving speed, 

skill, endurance, popularity, politics, strength, or 

appearance, such as elections, the outcome of nominating 

conventions, dance marathons, log-rolling contests, 

wood-chopping contests, weightlifting contests, beauty 

contests, and spelling bees. 

Wagering pool. A wagering pool conducted for profit 

includes any method or scheme for giving prizes to one or 

more winning bettors based on the outcome of a sports 

event, a contest, or a combination or series of these events 

or contests if the wagering pool is managed and 

conducted for the purpose of making a profit. A wagering 

pool or lottery may be conducted for profit even if a direct 

profit does not occur. If you operate the wagering pool or 

lottery with the expectation of a profit in the form of 

increased sales, attendance, or other indirect benefits, you 

conduct it for profit. 

Lottery. This includes the numbers game, policy, punch 

boards, and similar types of wagering. In general, a lottery 

conducted for profit includes any method or scheme for 

the distribution of prizes among persons who have paid or 

promised to pay for a chance to win the prizes. The 

winning prizes are usually determined by the drawing of 

numbers, symbols, or tickets from a wheel or other 

container, or by the outcome of a given event. 

It does not include either of the following kinds of events. 

• Games of a type in which usually the wagers are 

placed, winners are determined, and the prizes are 

distributed in the presence of everyone who placed a 

wager. Card games, roulette games, dice games, bingo, 

keno, and gambling wheels usually fall within this 

exception. 

• Drawings conducted by a tax-exempt organization, if 

the net proceeds of the drawing do not benefit a private 

shareholder or individual. 

What is not taxed. The tax is not imposed on the 

following five items. 

• Parimutuel wagering, including horse racing, dog racing, 

and jai alai, when it is licensed under state law.

• Coin-operated devices, such as slot machines, pinball 

machines, or video games.

• Sweepstakes, wagering pools, or lotteries that are 

conducted by an agency of a state, if the wager is placed 

with the state agency or its authorized agents or 

employees.

• Games of the type in which all persons placing wagers in 

the game are present when wagers are placed, winners are 

determined, and prizes or other property are distributed. 
Form 730 (Rev. 12-2012) Page 4 

• Drawings conducted by an organization exempt from tax 

under sections 501 and 521, as long as the net proceeds 

of the drawing do not benefit a private shareholder or 

individual. 

Line 2. Enter the gross amount of any laid-off wagers 

accepted during the month. Gross laid-off wagers are the 

total of those laid-off wagers that are authorized and those 

that are not authorized by the state in which they are 

accepted. 

Lines 4a and 4b. Enter the applicable amount included in 

line 3. Multiply the amount by the rate shown and enter the 

result. The rate of tax depends on whether the wager is 

authorized by the laws of the state in which the wager was 

accepted. The lower rate applies to wagers that are 

authorized by state law. 

Line 5. You may be able to claim a credit for the amount of 

any overpayment of tax or for the amount of tax imposed 

with respect to a wager that you laid off. You may also use 

Schedule 6 (Form 8849) to make a claim for refund. 

Credit for an overpayment of tax. Generally, you may 

claim a credit for any overpayment of tax. The claim must 

be filed within 3 years from the time the Form 730 reporting 

the tax was filed or 2 years from the time the tax was paid, 

whichever is later. No credit is allowed unless a statement 

of the facts involving the overpayment is attached that 

includes the following information.

• An explanation of the reason for claiming a credit. 

• The date of payment and the amount of the tax. 

• Whether any previous claim covering the amount 

involved, or any part, has been filed. 

• A statement that you: 

1. Have not collected (whether as a separate charge or 

otherwise) the amount of the tax from the person that 

placed the wager on which the tax was imposed, or

2. Have repaid the amount of the tax to the person that 

placed the wager, or 

3. Have the written consent of the person that placed the 

wager to the allowance of the credit. The consent must be 

attached to the return. 

Note. If the overpayment relates to a laid-off wager accepted

by you, one of the three statements in the previous bullet 

must be attached for both the person who placed the laid-off 

wager with you and the person who placed the original 

wager. 

Credit for wagers laid off by you. If you accept a 

wager and lay off all or a part of that wager with a person 

who is liable for tax, follow the rules below to claim a credit 

depending on whether or not you paid the tax. 

• If you have not paid the tax, you may claim a credit on 

Form 730 in the amount of the tax due for the laid-off 

wager, if the certificate described in Regulations section 

44.6419-2(d) is attached to Form 730 for the month during 

which the wager was accepted and laid off. 

• If you have paid the tax, you may claim a credit for the tax 

paid on the laid-off amount. The claim must be filed within 3 

years from the time the return reporting the tax was filed or 2 

years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later. 

Interest will not be allowed on a credit for the tax imposed 

on a wager that you laid off. 

No credit is allowed unless the following information is 

attached to the return for each laid-off wager: 

• The certificate described in Regulations section 

44.6419-2(d). 

• A statement that includes (a) the reason for the credit, (b)

the month in which the tax was paid, (c) the date of 

payment, and (d) whether any previous claim covering all or 

part of the amount involved has been filed. 

Line 6. If line 4c is more than line 5, enter the difference on 

line 6. You do not have to pay if line 6 is under $1.00. You 

may pay the amount shown on line 6 using the Electronic 

Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) or by check or 

money order. If you pay using EFTPS, do not file Form 

730-V, Payment Voucher. 

Electronic payment. Now, more than ever before, 

businesses can enjoy the benefits of paying their federal 

taxes electronically. Whether you rely on a tax professional 

or handle your own taxes, the IRS offers you a convenient 

program to make it easier. Spend less time on taxes and 

more time running your business. Use EFTPS to your 

benefit. For information on EFTPS, visit www.eftps.gov or 

call EFTPS Customer Service at 1-800-555-4477. 

Recordkeeping. Keep copies of your tax returns, records, 

and accounts of all transactions to show that the correct 

tax has been paid. Keep records to support all adjustments 

claimed and all exemptions at least 4 years from the latest 

of the following dates: when the tax became due, when 

you paid the tax, when you claimed an adjustment, or 

when you filed a claim for refund. Always keep your records 

available for IRS inspection. 

Penalties. Avoid penalties and interest by filing returns and 

paying taxes when due. The law provides penalties for 

filing a return late, paying taxes late, failing to file a return,

negligence, and fraud. These penalties are in addition to 

the interest charge on late payments. The penalty for filing 

a return late or paying the tax late will not be imposed if you 

can show that the failure to file a timely return or timely pay 

the tax is due to reasonable cause. 

If you receive a notice about a penalty after you file this 

return, reply to the notice with an explanation and we will 

determine if you meet reasonable-cause criteria. Do not 

attach an explanation when you file your return.

Unresolved tax problems. The Taxpayer Advocate’s 

office may assign a personal advocate to taxpayers who 

have been unable to resolve their problems with the IRS. 

You can write to the Taxpayer Advocate at the IRS office 

that last contacted you or call a toll-free assistance 

number, 1-877-777-4778. Persons who are deaf, hard of 

hearing, or have a speech disability and have access to 

TTY/TDD equipment may call 1-800-829-4059 to ask for 

help from the Taxpayer Advocate. This office cannot 

change the law or technical decisions, but it can help clear 

up problems that resulted from previous contacts. 

Disclosure of information on wagering taxes. Except for 

administering or enforcing Internal Revenue taxes, neither 

the Treasury Department nor any of its employees may 

disclose documents, records, or information obtained 

through them that a taxpayer supplies in connection with 

wagering taxes. Also, certain documents related to 

wagering taxes and information obtained through them 

that relates to wagering taxes may not be used against the 

taxpayer in any nontax criminal proceeding. See section 

4424 for more details.