What Is BIR Form 1600WP? Withholding Tax on Horse Race Winnings Explained

BIR Form 1600WP is the Remittance Return of Percentage Tax on Winnings and Prizes Withheld by Race Track Operators — the return a horse racing operator files to remit tax withheld from bettors’ winnings and from prizes paid to the owners of winning horses, under Section 126 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). If you’re a bettor, this tax is already deducted before you’re paid; if you operate or manage a race track, this is the return your withholding obligation runs through.

What does BIR Form 1600WP cover? #

BIR Form 1600WP exists because Section 126 of the NIRC treats winnings from horse races as a specific, separately taxed category of income — not ordinary compensation or business income — collected through withholding at the moment of payout rather than through the winner’s own return. The operator, manager, or person in charge of the race deducts the tax before paying a winning bettor or a winning horse’s owner, then remits what was withheld to the BIR using this form. The bettor or owner never files anything themselves for this specific tax; the withholding at source is final.

NIRC Section 126, “Tax on Winnings,” states the rule directly:

“Every person who wins in horse races shall pay a tax equivalent to ten percent (10%) of his winnings or ‘dividends’, the tax to be based on the actual amount paid to him for every winning ticket after deducting the cost of the ticket: Provided, That in the case of winnings from double, forecast/quinella and trifecta bets, the tax shall be four percent (4%).”

What are the withholding rates? #

Section 126 sets two rates depending on the type of bet, plus a parallel rate for horse owners:

The lower 4% rate for double, forecast/quinella, and trifecta bets exists because those bet types typically pay out on a much larger multiple of the stake than a straight win bet — a flat 10% on the full payout would tax a much bigger relative share of a bettor’s net winnings on those bet types than on an ordinary win.

Who files it, and when? #

The race track operator — not the bettor or horse owner — is the withholding agent and the one who files BIR Form 1600WP. Because the tax is triggered at each payout rather than on a fixed monthly schedule, the filing deadline is tied to the withholding event itself: the return and the remitted tax are due within 20 days from the date the tax was deducted and withheld, filed with the Revenue District Office (RDO) that has jurisdiction over the operator’s place of business.

This 20-day, event-triggered deadline is different from most other BIR withholding returns, which run on a fixed monthly or quarterly calendar (like BIR Form 0619-E or BIR Form 1601-EQ). A race track operator withholding across multiple race days in a given month may end up filing more than one BIR Form 1600WP within that month, each tied to its own 20-day clock.

Why does this matter if you’re not a race track operator? #

For an ordinary taxpayer, BIR Form 1600WP is mostly relevant as an explanation for why nothing further needs to be reported: the tax on horse race winnings is a final withholding tax, deducted at source, so a winning bettor doesn’t need to declare that winning again as part of their own income tax return the way they would with, say, ordinary business income reported on BIR Form 1701Q. The finality is what distinguishes Section 126’s tax from the creditable withholding tax reported on BIR Form 2307, which reduces — but doesn’t finally settle — the payee’s own income tax liability.

Summary #

BIR Form 1600WP is a narrow but specific return: race track operators use it to remit the 10% (or 4%, for double/forecast-quinella/trifecta bets) final withholding tax on winnings under NIRC Section 126, within 20 days of each withholding event. For bettors, the practical takeaway is that this tax is already settled by the time winnings are paid out — there’s no separate declaration required on the winner’s side.