A Capitol Hill lawmaker from Nevada has her sights set on repealing a 0.0025 percent federal tax on sports wagers in the Silver State.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Rep. Dina Titus asked the IRS what the $9 million Nevada sports books paid last year to the feds was spent on (at the request of CG Technology’s Lee Amaitis) and the IRS couldn’t exactly tell her where it went.
Now, her mission is to get rid of the tax and keep the millions in Nevada.
“The IRS didn’t even know it existed,” Titus said. “The money just went into some black hole in the general fund. […] It can be reinvested into Nevada’s economy. Gaming is our lifeblood, and this is a drop in the bucket to Washington.”
Nevada’s tax on gaming revenue is 6.75 percent.
In 2013, Nevada sports books had record revenue of more than $200 million.
Titus’ bill reportedly doesn’t have much chance on its own, but could be attached to a broader tax reform bill. She said she wants to start a conversation.
Her initiative comes at a time when the state of New Jersey is in the process of figuring out if it wants to circumvent a federal law that limited sports betting to only four states which were grandfathered in. Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill, but next month Garden State lawmakers will decide if they want to make history by overriding the veto.
