Louisiana Rep. Roger Wilder agreed to defer consideration of his 51 percent sports betting tax bill Nov. 13, but proponents and opponents were vocal in their positions, reports iGB. Louisiana’s state legislature is in a special session that must end by Nov. 25.
Gov. Jeff Landry called the special session in an attempt to overhaul the state’s tax system, including a potential income-tax reduction and adding sales tax to more goods and services.
Wilder’s bill, HB22, would increase the tax rate on digital sports betting revenue from 15 percent to 51 percent. The attempt is part of a trend in the US. At the behest of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, lawmakers there raised the wagering tax from a flat 15 percent to a sliding scale of 20-40 percent. That went into effect in July.
A year earlier, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was the architect of an increase in his state from 10 percent to 20 percent. In May, one Massachusetts lawmaker proposed raising the tax there from 20 percent to 51 percent, but that bill was rejected by the state Senate.
