Representative Dina Titus reintroduced a bill to Congress to eliminate a federal handle tax on Nevada sports books. If eliminated, somewhere between million and million would annually be pumped back into the state, which Titus claims “would allow for additional job creation and innovation in the gaming industry.”
Titus argues the taxation is unfair, and argued, “Because Nevada is the single state with fully inclusive wagering on sports, companies based in our state are the only entities paying this specific tax.” The federal handle tax stands at 0.0025 percent of all sports wagers, and was originally intended to finance investigations for illegal sports betting, however the money is used for reasons not related the to the issue.
“They were unable to confirm that the funding is being used for investigations or in any way related to gaming,” Titus wrote in a letter to Representative Paul Ryan, chairman of House Committee on Ways and Means, and Representative Sander Levin, the committee’s ranking member. She introduced the legislation last year, but failed to gain any congressional support, which rendered the bill dead.
