Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Remove Federal Excise Tax on Gambling Handle
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto of Mississippi and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Nevada introduced the Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates or WAGER Act. According to the top pay per head companies, their goal is to remove the federal excise tax on gambling handle.
The tax cuts will help combat illegal gambling, create jobs, protect legitimate sportsbooks and gaming companies, and boost local economies while making sports betting more accessible.
The predicted outcome of the bipartisan initiative is to shield legitimate sports betting from the antiquated head and handle taxes imposed by the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Every legitimate sports bet is subject to a 0.25 percent federal excise handling tax, and licensed sports betting companies must pay a $50 head tax each year for each employee.
Federal Excise Tax on Gambling Handle
According to pay per head bookie experts, Senator Masto strongly advocates for Nevada’s casino and tourist industries. She helped states receive $3 billion in the American Rescue Plan. In addition, she claims that legal, safe sports betting can be a boon to local economies.
She repeated that Nevada is home to numerous championship-level sports teams and explained how the bipartisan bill would guarantee that the sports gaming industry would generate much-needed tax relief for consumers and businesses, thereby increasing employment opportunities, retaining tax revenue within Nevada, and reducing illicit activity. Senate colleague Hyde-Smith echoed this sentiment, praising the thriving tourist economy in Mississippi and how its picturesque casinos and resorts help sustain local economies.
Then she went on to say that these places could accomplish more if the federal excise tax on sports betting weren’t so antiquated; the money goes to illicit offshore businesses that don’t pay taxes or employ anybody. As far as Hyde-Smith is concerned, doing away with the tax would create greater equality, stimulate local economies, and guarantee that the state’s share of gaming income remains in the state, allowing for the creation of more jobs and the funding of community projects.
AGA Supports the WAGER Act
The president and chief executive officer of the American Gaming Association, Bill Miller, was entirely complimentary of the WAGER Act. Miller used the occasion to thank the two senators for their dedication to creating a responsible sports betting industry and their ongoing efforts to assist bettors in leaving the underground market.
The current system of this antiquated tax encourages illicit sportsbooks to slash expenses and provide higher odds while penalizing legitimate sports betting firms. Nevada paid nearly $22 million in handling taxes in 2022, nearly twice the state’s total for 2019.
Legislation to continue cracking down on illicit operations would be preserved in the bipartisan measure, which would exclude legitimate sports betting from the levy. Miller further said that the AGA would continue collaborating with lawmakers to pass legislation dealing with the detrimental tax to divert bettors away from the underground market, which he described as lacking consumer safeguards and providing a sanctuary for tax evaders and criminal actors.
According to a political news forum, Dina Titus (R-NV) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) have sponsored a comparable bipartisan measure in the United States House of Representatives.
