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Bill to repeal federal sports betting tax enters U.S. Senate
The bipartisan bill may be most favorable to states such as Nevada and Mississippi.
Last week, two U.S. Senators introduced legislation to put an end to the .25% federal excise tax on sports betting handle.
Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D) and Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) introduced the Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates (WAGER) Act in a piece of bipartisan legislation. The bill aims to bring an end to the federal excise tax and annual “head” tax for licensed operators in the United States.
This bill joins a similar bill that was filed in the House of Representatives in 2023 by Nevada Representative Dina Titus and Pennsylvania Representative Guy Reschenthaler. Both bills are supported by the American Gaming Association.
A statement on the AGA website reads as follows: “The Internal Revenue Code currently imposes a federal excise tax of 0.25%, as well as an additional $50 annual head tax for every employee engaged in receiving wagers. This tax was established in the 1950s, not as a revenue source, but rather as a tool for prosecuting illegal bookmaking operations that didn’t pay the tax. Currently, this tax serves no dedicated purpose and represents an added operating cost to legal sportsbooks that illegal operators do not pay, further impeding customers’ move away from the predatory, illegal market to safe, regulated sports betting channels.”
Mississippi, Nevada have most to gain from tax repeal
While getting rid of the federal excise tax makes sense based on the arguments of the parties involved, the two Senators who introduced the legislation have the most to gain from the WAGER bill being enacted.
For starters, Nevada is the betting capital of the world. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state is home to more than 150 casinos. The state requires in-person registration before users are allowed to use mobile sports betting apps. Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks were responsible for more than 35% of the sports betting handle in Nevada in 2023, a significantly higher rate than the rest of the country.
In total, Nevada paid nearly $22 million in betting handle tax in 2022, almost double the amount it paid in 2019.
Mississippi has yet to legalize online sports betting outside of its casinos, but the state is home to some beautiful brick-and-mortar casinos that accept sports bets.
“Mississippi has a strong tourism industry thanks, in part, to our beautiful casinos and resorts that make valuable contributions to local communities. They could do more if not for this outdated federal excise tax on sports betting that only benefits illegal offshore operations, which provide zero jobs or tax revenue,” Hyde-Smith said.