Tipped occupations ยท Entertainment and Events
Casino Dealer Tips and the 2026 Tips Deduction: Code 201
Gambling dealers appear on the Treasury list behind the 2026 tips deduction as occupation code 201, in the Entertainment and Events category of the final regulations (T.D. 10044). A dealer is an employee, so the year's reported tips reach the W-2 in Box 12 with code TP and code 201 in Box 14b, and up to $25,000 of qualified tips per return is deductible on Schedule 1-A for tax years 2025 through 2028. Casino work has two features no other occupation page on this site has to deal with: players tip in chips, and many casinos report tips under a Gaming Industry Tip Compliance Agreement with the IRS, in which a set tip rate for the occupation stands behind the reported figure.
Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.
The facts, in one table
| Treasury Tipped Occupation Code | 201, Gambling Dealers |
|---|---|
| Category in the final regulations | Entertainment and Events |
| Related codes in the same category | 202, Gambling Change Persons and Booth Cashiers; 203, Gambling Cage Workers; 204, Gambling and Sports Book Writers and Runners |
| Also inside code 201 | Table game supervisors. The final regulations place the classification for first-line supervisors of gambling service workers among the related classifications for code 201, and state in the preamble that table game supervisors are covered by the Gambling Dealers category (T.D. 10044) |
| The deduction | Up to $25,000 of qualified tips per return, for tax years 2025 through 2028, claimed on Schedule 1-A whether or not you itemize |
| Phaseout | The amount after the $25,000 limit is reduced by $100 for each $1,000 of modified adjusted gross income over $150,000, or $300,000 on a joint return, counting whole $1,000 steps only (section 224(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code; 26 CFR 1.224-1(b)(2)) |
| Where the figure appears | Box 12 of your W-2, code TP, with code 201 in Box 14b. Where the casino reports under a tip agreement with the IRS, the reported figure can be built from the agreement's tip rate rather than from a count of the chips themselves |
| Payroll tax | Unchanged. Tips are wages for Social Security and Medicare tax in full; the deduction reduces income tax only |
Read the code the way the site reads the whole list: appearing on the Treasury list is a published fact about an occupation. It is not a decision about any one worker, and the rest of the rules on this page, the reporting rule in particular, decide what a deduction is built from. The full list of 71 codes is on the Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes page.
chips are cash tips here
How a dealer's tips reach the tax record
The reporting route is the employee route. Cash tips of $20 or more in a calendar month are reported to the employer by the tenth day of the following month (IRS Topic No. 761). At the table, tips arrive as chips, the tokes a player pushes across or drops for the dealer. The final regulations meet that fact directly: their definition of cash tips includes tokens that are readily exchangeable for a fixed amount in cash, and the example the regulation itself gives is casino chips (26 CFR 1.224-2). What you report is what the employer can put in Box 12 code TP, and code TP is the figure the 2026 deduction is generally limited to.
Many casinos add a second mechanism on top of the count. The IRS runs a voluntary program built for this industry, the Gaming Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (GITCA): the casino and the IRS establish tip rates for the occupational categories in the property, and employees who join the agreement report tips at or above the rate for their category (IRS Publications 4932 and 531). The final regulations carry the consequence for the deduction: a dealer under a GITCA agreement, like an employee under the Tip Rate Determination Agreement in other industries, may figure the amount of qualified tips from the tip rate in the agreement, as those tips are reported on Form W-2, together with any amounts reported on Form 4137, instead of from the actual tips received.
The regulations illustrate the rule with two gambling dealers at one casino, both under a GITCA agreement. One receives $11,000 in tips for the year and the other receives $12,000; the agreement's rate requires each of them to report $10,000; each W-2 reports $10,000; and each dealer figures the deduction on $10,000. The same passage notes the alternative: an employee who reports the full amount received, to the employer or on Form 4137, uses that full amount. So a W-2 tip figure at a casino can be lower than the year's tokes without anything being wrong, and the reason is printed in the agreement, not in an error.
If your January W-2 shows no code TP at all, that is a different situation, and the missing codes page sets out the common causes and the order of fixes. Only your employer can correct the form, on Form W-2c.
What counts as a qualified tip for a dealer
A qualified tip is a voluntary payment, in an amount the customer decides, received in an occupation on the Treasury list. Sorted by the IRS definitions, the cases the table actually produces are these:
- Chips a player gives you at the table, kept for yourself: cash tips. The regulations count tokens readily exchangeable for a fixed amount in cash as a cash medium, and casino chips are their own example (26 CFR 1.224-2).
- Your share of a pooled toke box, split by shift, by hours, or by table: cash tips. The same definition expressly includes tips received through a mandatory or voluntary tip-sharing arrangement, such as a tip pool.
- A cash tip handed to you away from the table: the same kind of payment, a voluntary amount from a customer, reported the same way.
- A share of the dealer pool paid out to a floor supervisor or pit manager: not a qualified tip in the supervisor's hands. The regulations state that amounts received by a manager or supervisor through a tip-sharing arrangement such as a tip pool are not qualified tips. Tips a supervisor receives directly from a player for their own dealing stand on a different footing.
- A promotional chip, a tournament seat, or a comp the house gives you: not a payment from a customer at all, so not a tip under the definition, whatever its value. The payor behind a qualified tip is the customer, and the house is not the customer.
manager pool shares do not count
The wage under the tips
The deduction sits on top of the wage, and the wage for tipped work is set by the Fair Labor Standards Act and by your state. Casino states sit near both ends of the table below: Nevada, where a large share of dealing jobs are, allows no tip credit at all, so the cash wage is the full $12.00 state minimum wage and tips sit entirely on top of it, while a number of other casino states sit at the federal $2.13 cash wage.
| Minimum wage the combined pay must reach | $7.25 an hour |
|---|---|
| Lowest cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee | $2.13 an hour |
| Maximum tip credit | $5.12 an hour |
| Tipped employee, federal definition | A worker in an occupation that customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips |
The tip credit is a credit toward the minimum wage, not a discount on it: the employer may count up to $5.12 an hour of a tipped employee's tips toward the $7.25, and if cash wages plus tips do not reach the full minimum wage, the employer owes the difference. States set their own floors on top of the federal one, and the full state table, exactly as the U.S. Department of Labor publishes it, follows. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, "Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees", last revised July 1, 2026, retrieved November 4, 2026.
States that require the full state minimum wage before tips
| Jurisdiction | Basic combined cash and tip minimum wage | Maximum tip credit | Minimum cash wage | Tipped employee: tips received per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | $14.00 | |||
| California | $16.90 | |||
| Guam | $9.25 | |||
| Minnesota | $11.41 | |||
| Montana: business with gross annual sales over $110,000 | $10.85 | |||
| Montana: business not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act, with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less | $4.00 | |||
| Nevada | $12.00 | |||
| Oregon | $15.55 (standard statewide); $16.80 (Portland metro); $14.55 (nonurban counties) | |||
| Washington | $17.13 |
States that require a minimum cash wage above the federal $2.13 an hour
| Jurisdiction | Basic combined cash and tip minimum wage | Maximum tip credit | Minimum cash wage | Tipped employee: tips received per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $15.15 | $3.00 | $12.15 | Not specified |
| Arkansas | $11.00 | $8.37 | $2.63 | Not specified |
| Colorado | $15.16 | $3.02 | $12.14 | More than $30 |
| Connecticut: hotel and restaurant workers | $16.94 | $10.56 | $6.38 | Not specified |
| Connecticut: bartenders who customarily receive tips | $16.94 | $8.71 | $8.23 | |
| Delaware | $15.00 | $12.77 | $2.23 | More than $30 |
| District of Columbia | $18.40 | $8.10 | $10.30 | Not specified |
| Florida | $14.00 | $3.02 | $10.98 | More than $30 |
| Hawaii | $16.00 | $1.25 | $14.75 | |
| Idaho | $7.25 | $3.90 | $3.35 | More than $30 |
| Illinois | $15.00 | 40 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($6.00) | $9.00 | Not specified |
| Iowa | $7.25 | 40 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($2.90) | $4.35 | More than $30 |
| Maine | $15.10 | 50 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($7.55) | $7.55 | More than $191 |
| Maryland | $15.00 | $11.37 | $3.63 | More than $30 |
| Massachusetts | $15.00 | $8.25 | $6.75 | More than $20 |
| Michigan | $13.73 | $8.24 | $5.49 | Not specified |
| Missouri | $15.00 | 50 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($7.50) | $7.50 | Not specified |
| New Hampshire | $7.25 | $3.98 | $3.27 | More than $30 |
| New Jersey | $15.92 | $9.87 | $6.05 | More than $30 |
| New Mexico | $12.00 | $9.00 | $3.00 | More than $30 |
| New York | $17.00 (New York City, Long Island and Westchester); $16.00 (remainder of the state) | Varies by region and type of employer | Varies by region and type of employer | Not specified |
| North Dakota | $7.25 | 33 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($2.39) | $4.86 | More than $30 |
| Ohio: employers with annual gross receipts of $405,000 or more | $11.00 | $5.50 | $5.50 | More than $30 |
| Oklahoma | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | Not specified |
| Pennsylvania | $7.25 | $4.42 | $2.83 | $135 |
| Rhode Island | $16.00 | $12.11 | $3.89 | More than $30 |
| South Dakota | $11.85 | 50 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($5.92) | $5.93 | More than $35 |
| Vermont | $14.42 | 50 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($7.21) | $7.21 | More than $120 |
| Virgin Islands | $10.50 | $6.30 | 40 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($4.20) | Not specified |
| Wisconsin | $7.25 | $4.92 | $2.33 | Not specified |
| West Virginia | $8.75 | 70 percent of the applicable minimum wage ($6.13) | $2.62 | Not specified |
States where the minimum cash wage is the federal $2.13 an hour
| Jurisdiction | Basic combined cash and tip minimum wage | Maximum tip credit | Minimum cash wage | Tipped employee: tips received per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| American Samoa | Special minimum wage rates apply | $2.13 | More than $30 | |
| Georgia | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Indiana | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Kansas | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | Not specified |
| Kentucky | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Louisiana | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Mississippi | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Nebraska | $15.00 | $12.87 | $2.13 | Not specified |
| North Carolina | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $20 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Puerto Rico | $10.50 | $8.37 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| South Carolina | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Tennessee | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Texas | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $20 |
| Utah | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Virginia | $12.77 | $10.64 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
| Wyoming | $7.25 | $5.12 | $2.13 | More than $30 |
- Florida: the figures above are the ones in the July 1, 2026 revision. The Department of Labor's own footnote to this table states that the Florida minimum wage is scheduled to increase by $1.00 every year on September 30 until reaching $15.00 on September 30, 2026.
- Hawaii: the tip credit is permissible only if the combined amount the employee receives from the employer and in tips is at least $7.00 more than the applicable minimum wage.
- Michigan: the Department of Labor's footnote states that the Michigan tipped cash wage is scheduled to increase annually until it reaches 50 percent of the state minimum wage in 2031, and that the Michigan minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $15.00 on January 1, 2027.
- District of Columbia: employers must currently pay a minimum cash wage of at least 56 percent of the standard minimum wage.
- No state minimum wage law: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee have no state minimum wage law, and Georgia's law does not apply to tipped employees; employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act in those states pay at least the federal minimum wage.
- Not in this table: the Department of Labor notes that some states set subminimum rates for minors or students or a training wage, and some cities and counties set minimum wages higher than the state rate. The Department advises checking with the state labor office for official information.
Estimate the deduction on your own figures
The tips deduction calculator takes your reported tip total and your income, applies the $25,000 limit and the phaseout, and returns an estimated deduction. It asks for nothing but the figures, and the calculation runs in your browser.
If your casino reports under a tip agreement, start the estimate from the code TP figure on your W-2 rather than from your own count of tokes: at an agreement property the reported figure is the rate-based amount, and that reported figure is what the 2026 deduction is generally limited to.
Other tipped occupations on this site
- Bartender tips deduction, code 101
- Server tips deduction, codes 102 and 103
- Rideshare and delivery driver tips, codes 802 and 804
- Barber and stylist tips deduction, code 603
- Golf caddie tips deduction, code 701
- Home services tips deduction, codes 401 to 409
- Hotel staff tips deduction, codes 301 to 304
- Valet parking tips deduction, code 801
- All 71 Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes
Questions and answers
My casino is in a GITCA agreement and my W-2 shows fewer tips than I received. Which figure does the deduction use?
Either route the regulations describe. A participating employee may figure qualified tips from the tip rate in the agreement, as reported on Form W-2, together with any amounts reported on Form 4137. An employee who instead reports the full amount received, to the employer or on Form 4137, uses the full amount. The final regulations give two gambling dealers under one agreement as their example: $11,000 and $12,000 received, $10,000 reported at the agreement rate, and the deduction figured on $10,000 (T.D. 10044).
I deal part of the week and work in the cage the rest. One occupation code or two?
Both occupations are on the list: 201 for gambling dealers and 203 for gambling cage workers, with 202 covering change persons and booth cashiers. The employer reports the occupation code in Box 14b, and the deduction is figured from the code TP total across your reported tips rather than from the code itself. If you believe the wrong code was printed, it is corrected by the employer on Form W-2c.
Our tokes are pooled and split among the dealers on shift. Does pooling change the tax treatment?
No. The regulations define cash tips to include tips received through a mandatory or voluntary tip-sharing arrangement such as a tip pool, so each dealer's share is a tip in that dealer's hands, reported to the employer under the same $20 a month rule, and subject to Social Security and Medicare tax as wages. The one pool rule that cuts the other way is for supervisors: amounts a manager or supervisor receives through the pool are not qualified tips.
Sources
- Treasury Decision 10044, April 13, 2026. The final regulations carrying the 71 Treasury Tipped Occupation Codes. Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 70, pages 19026 to 19056; the list is Table 1 to paragraph (h) of 26 CFR 1.224-2.
- Treasury Decision 10044, April 13, 2026, regulatory text of 26 CFR 1.224-2. Cash tips include tips received through a mandatory or voluntary tip-sharing arrangement such as a tip pool, and amounts paid in cash media including tokens readily exchangeable for a fixed amount in cash, with casino chips as the regulation's own example; a tip is an amount in excess of the amount agreed to, required, or charged for the services; amounts received by a manager or supervisor through a tip pool are not qualified tips. Read in full November 4, 2026.
- IRS, Publication 4932, Gaming Industry Tip Compliance Agreement (GITCA), and Publication 531, Reporting Tip Income. The GITCA program is a voluntary compliance agreement designed specifically for the gaming industry, establishing tip rates for participating employees; gaming employers may participate under Revenue Procedure 2007-32, as modified by Revenue Procedure 2020-47. Checked November 4, 2026.
- IRS, Topic No. 761, Tips: withholding and reporting. Cash tips include tips received directly from customers, tips from other employees under any tip-sharing arrangement, and charged tips; the $20 a month reporting rule; service charges are non-tip wages, with the IRS's own examples. Read in full November 4, 2026.
- IRS, Fact Sheet FS-2026-13, August 6, 2026, and the IRS W-2 frequently asked questions. For 2026 the tips deduction is generally limited to the amount the employer separately reported in code TP, and amounts reported on a substitute Form 4852 cannot be used for it, while qualified tips reported on Form 4137 can. Note on source level: a fact sheet is IRS guidance, not binding legal authority.
- IRS, Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, tax year 2026. Final version, posted January 30, 2026. Carries Box 12 code TP and Box 14b.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, "Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees". The state tipped minimum wage table on this page is transcribed from this source in full: document last revised July 1, 2026, retrieved November 4, 2026.
- Public Law 119-21, enacted July 4, 2025. Created this deduction in section 224 of the Internal Revenue Code, including its $25,000 limit and the phaseout in section 224(b)(2).
Last reviewed: November 4, 2026.