Iowa casinos may have to wait until 2016 for a new tax break exempting casinos from paying state sales tax on promotional offers. The bill cleared an initial tax-writing committee but has not been heard by the full House.
Wes Ehrecke of the Iowa Gaming Association said casinos should not have to pay taxes on the full amount of a gambler’s charges if he or she pays part of the bill with a coupon. “You have a tax on unreal money, it’s fake money, it’s a coupon. And when you go to Kohl’s or Hy-Vee or somewhere and you get a $20, coupon the business doesn’t pay tax on that.”
The proposed bill would cap the sales tax casinos pay on promotional offers at $27 million, then reduce that by $5 million the following year.
Anti-gambling groups oppose the bill, as well as environmentalists who are concerned about a decrease in casino revenue that helps pay for conservation projects. “We do a tremendous amount of dollars, $300 million that go to a large number of projects. There’s a question about how this would impact those,” Ehrecke said.
