The United States’ sports betting industry is still taking shape even though it has been a little over three years since PASPA was abolished. While states are now able to decide for themselves whether they would like to launch sports betting industries or not, the federal government still has some ties with the sports betting industry as a whole. One such instance of this relates to the 0.25 percent excise tax that the country’s government collects on all legal sports bets wagered within its borders. This might not be the case for too long though.
Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pennsylvania), have recently co-sponsored a bill that seeks to put an end to the excise sports betting tax that the government collects. The two representatives currently co-chair the Congressional Gaming Caucus which relaunched earlier this year to deal with some issues relating to the gambling industry.
Concerns About the Current State of the Gambling Industry
Lots of issues have always plagued the gambling industry but it is safe to say that a lot is being done to ensure that everything works out for the better. In the case of the excise tax that the government collects one of the most notable issues is the fact that it is seen as more of a penalty. In fact, the sports betting operators who pay the excise duty are also subject to an additional $50 tax for each of the employees working in their sportsbooks.
Rep. Dina Titus pointed out that the tax remains a thorny issue especially because it makes it very hard for legal sports betting operators to compete against illegal gambling operators. This not only means that more gamers move towards unregulated sites but also that the states and federal government miss out on tax revenue.
“Repealing it will push more consumers out of the black market and into a well-regulated market. Forcing sportsbooks to pay a per-employee tax is the last thing we need when gaming establishments are still making announcements about new rounds of layoffs and furloughs.”
Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nevada).
According to Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, the excise tax on sports betting is out of date and puts “burdensome requirements” on the gambling industry.
Support from Gambling-Related Entities
As expected, the new bill has received support from a number of stakeholders in the gambling industry. The American Gaming Association (AGA) is one of these entities and it has publicly shown that it is very impressed with the new rule. Bill Miller, the associations chief executive believes that the elimination of the excise due is long overdue and has been a major obstruction for the establishment of a robust legal and regulated sports betting environment.