Georgia COAM April 20 Deadline: Q1 Gross Retail Receipts Due — Plus What Changes on July 1

If you operate Class B coin-operated amusement machines in Georgia, the next two months require your active attention. On April 20, 2026, your Q1 Gross Retail Receipts report is due to the Georgia Lottery Corporation — and it must be filed electronically. Twelve days later on July 1, 2026, the payout rules that have governed the industry since May 2024 change again, with new options for both Class A and Class B operators and a hard prohibition on cash payouts that leaves no gray area.

Most operators are at least aware of the July 1 date. Fewer are tracking the April 20 filing requirement with the same urgency — and some are confused about exactly how the Class A and Class B gift card rules differ. This post covers both.

The April 20 Quarterly Reporting Deadline

Under O.C.G.A. § 50-27-84, Class B COAM location licensees are required to submit Gross Retail Receipts reports to the Georgia Lottery Corporation on a quarterly schedule. The filing dates are the 20th day of January, April, July, and October each year — a requirement that took effect with quarterly reporting beginning on July 20, 2024.

The April 20, 2026 filing covers Q1 2026: January 1 through March 31. Reports must be submitted electronically through the GLC's COAM portal at gacoam.com.

What Must Be Reported

The quarterly report documents your location's gross retail receipts — the total revenue your business generates, not just machine revenue. This is directly tied to the 50% rule: under Georgia law, Class B COAM revenue cannot account for more than 50% of a location's total gross retail receipts. The quarterly filing is how the GLC verifies compliance with that cap.

Failure to file accurately — or at all — is a compliance violation in its own right, separate from any issues with payout methods. If the GLC's COAM inspectors identify discrepancies between reported receipts and actual revenue, your license can be put at risk.

The Quarterly Filing Calendar

For reference, here's the full reporting schedule for 2026:

• January 20, 2026 — Q4 2025 receipts (October–December 2025)
• April 20, 2026 — Q1 2026 receipts (January–March 2026) (coming up)
• July 20, 2026 — Q2 2026 receipts (April–June 2026)
• October 20, 2026 — Q3 2026 receipts (July–September 2026)

If you missed the January 20 filing or submitted inaccurate figures, address that with the GLC before the April 20 deadline. A pattern of incomplete reporting is treated as a more serious compliance concern than a single corrected error.

What Changes on July 1, 2026 — Class A vs. Class B

The July 1, 2026 deadline under HB 353 is widely understood as the date cash payouts end. What's less clearly understood is that the new rules differ meaningfully between Class A and Class B machines.

Class B COAMs: Gift Cards and Lottery Only

For Class B machines — the skill-game redemption devices that make up the bulk of Georgia's regulated COAM market — the July 1 rules are strict:

Effective July 1, 2026, the only legal forms of redemption for Class B COAMs are:

• Replays
• Georgia Lottery products
• Non-reloadable gift cards
• Reloadable gift cards (new as of July 1)

Cash is not on that list. It won't be added. Any Class B operator still making cash payouts after June 30 is in direct violation of Georgia law and subject to license suspension or revocation.

Class A COAMs: More Flexibility, Still No Cash

Class A machines — mechanical amusement devices like cranes and coin pushers — operate under a different framework. Beginning July 1, 2026, legal redemption for Class A COAMs will include:

• Replays
• Non-reloadable and reloadable gift cards
• Any other legal form of redemption (merchandise, toys, novelties)

Note that the prize cap for Class A machines was also updated under the 2024 legislation — the prize limit increased from $5 to $50. For operators running both Class A and Class B machines at the same location, the different rule sets need to be managed separately.

The Transition Period Ends June 30

Since May 6, 2024 — the effective date of HB 353 — operators have been in a transition period in which non-reloadable gift cards are permitted as a payout method for both Class A and Class B machines, without needing to go through the GLC's previous gift card pilot program. That transition period ends June 30.

What this means practically: any Class B operator who has been relying on cash payouts during the transition — perhaps assuming the deadline would move or enforcement would be soft — has until midnight on June 30, 2026 to complete their switchover. After that, there is no grace period.

The New Reloadable Gift Card Option

One of the meaningful changes taking effect July 1 is the addition of reloadable gift cards as a legal payout method. Currently, only non-reloadable cards are permitted during the transition period. Starting July 1, both Class A and Class B operators can offer reloadable cards.

The distinction matters for player experience. A non-reloadable card is issued with a fixed value and used until depleted. A reloadable card maintains a running balance that can be topped up with additional winnings — players can return to a location, win again, and add value to the same card rather than receiving a new one each visit.

Regardless of card type, the rules under Georgia Code § 50-27-71.1 apply:

• Gift cards cannot be exchanged for cash, change, or currency
• Cards can only be loaded or reloaded at the location where the COAM is played
• Cards can only be loaded with value won through successful play of a COAM at that location

These restrictions exist to preserve the regulatory intent of HB 353 — gift cards are prizes, not cash equivalents. Operators whose gift card systems allow cash-equivalent exchanges, cross-location loading, or loading of non-won value are out of compliance regardless of whether they're using a card instead of cash.

GLC Prize Discounting: An Active Enforcement Issue

Alongside the regulatory changes, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has been fielding complaints about a practice it calls "discounting" — Location License Holders (LLHs) who reduce the value of COAM prizes before paying them out. In some cases, operators have been charging fees or commissions on prize redemptions, effectively giving players less than the face value of their winnings.

The GLC has made its position clear: LLHs must fully and legally honor all successful prize redemptions won by players. Imposing additional purchases, commissions, fees, or conditions as a requirement for receiving prizes is a violation. Complaints of this kind are documented and referred to COAM Inspectors for investigation.

For operators who may have inherited this practice from earlier business arrangements or who weren't aware of the rule, now is the time to correct it. An inspector visit triggered by a player complaint is not how you want to introduce your operation to GLC enforcement staff, especially in a period of heightened regulatory scrutiny ahead of July 1.

Practical Steps Before April 20 and July 1

Given the proximity of both deadlines, here's a condensed action list for operators:

Before April 20

1. Log in to gacoam.com and verify your account access is current — don't discover a login problem on the 19th.
2. Compile Q1 gross retail receipts for your location: total business revenue for January through March 2026, not just COAM revenue.
3. Verify the 50% rule: confirm your COAM revenue for Q1 did not exceed 50% of your total receipts. If it did, that's a compliance issue to address with the GLC proactively.
4. File before the 20th — the GLC portal can experience traffic volume near deadlines. File early.

Before July 1

1. If you're still on cash payouts, select and implement a compliant gift card solution immediately. With 84 days remaining as of this writing, there is enough time — but not enough time to delay.
2. Understand your machine class: confirm whether each machine at your location is Class A or Class B, since the redemption rules and reporting requirements differ.
3. Evaluate reloadable cards: if player experience is a priority, work with your payout provider to understand what's required to offer reloadable cards starting July 1.
4. Audit your current payout practices: if any discounting or fee-charging has been happening at your location, stop it now.
5. Train staff on the new rules — including what gift cards can and cannot be used for, and how the on-premises loading requirement works.

License Renewals: A Separate But Related Deadline

For operators who may also be tracking licensing timelines: the 2026 GLC renewal period closed in September 2025. Current licenses run July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. The next renewal cycle begins July 1, 2026 — the same date as the payout rule change.

This means your renewed license and your compliant payout system need to be in place simultaneously. Any operator who arrives at July 1 without both a current license and a compliant payout method is exposed on two fronts at once.

For a full breakdown of Georgia COAM licensing requirements, see our complete licensing guide.

The Bottom Line

April 20 and July 1 are the two dates that should be on every Georgia Class B COAM operator's radar right now. The quarterly filing is administrative but consequential — a missed or inaccurate report can attract the same inspector attention as a payout violation. The July 1 deadline is the bigger structural shift, but it's approaching faster than many operators realize.

The operators who fare best through this transition aren't the ones scrambling in late June. They're the ones who got compliant early, built clean reporting habits, and chose payout providers who understand Georgia's specific rules — including the Class A vs. Class B distinctions that generic gift card solutions often miss.

If either deadline is still uncertain for your operation, the time to act is now — not after you've filed late or faced an inspector.