Sports betting is one of the largely debated topics over the past months ever since it became clear that the US Supreme Court could potentially rule on the gambling activity and lift the ban on a federal level. The month of May brought the official decision and now the state of Kentucky has introduced a new proposed sports betting bill which could see its approval in 2019 once the General Assembly’s session begins.
According to the information provided, the 8th January is set to witness the official start of the new Kentucky General Assembly which could potentially bring a fresh start to sports betting within the borders of the state as well. The state has been interested in legalizing sports betting for quite some time now, but more actions have been taken since the beginning of this year. Back in the first months of 2018 many were already preparing for the potential ruling of the SCOTUS which was expected to bring changes.
With the help of the overturning of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, each state received the chance to make the decision for itself and come up with a unique sports gambling framework which suits the needs and preferences of local businesses and the community. Kentucky could not vote a new regulation in time prior to the adjournment of the General Assembly which took place a whole month before the ruling of the SCOTUS which is why it has more time to work on it in anticipation of next January.
This week saw the introduction of a new bill which is sponsored by State Senator Julian Carroll and comes with a significant tax rate on the revenue generated by each betting operator. The bill itself very much resembles the previously introduced one, with the exception that this one features the highest tax on revenue across all states willing to embrace sports wagering – 60 percent.
Potential Sports Betting Field Comes with High Taxes Rate
There are also other differences in the way this bill is structured, among them the fact that betting operators would have to charge on all bets place, instead of on net earnings generated. In this new version of the proposed bill, the tax on the bets placed amounts to some three percent, coming as an improvement to the previously proposed 20-percent tax.
However, the elephant in the room is definitely the 60-percent tax on wagering revenue which has the potential to stun the field in its very first months of development and change the mind of operators contemplating whether or not to explore the field. According to the lawmaker, this high tax is going to significantly improve the state of the community.
With the help of the future sports betting field, the state is striving to help the existing pension funds. The Kentucky Employees Retirement System Nonhazardous Retirement Fund, as well as the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System pension fund, will considerably benefit from the introduction of fresh funds. The proposed 3-percent excise tax is expected to be applied on the sports betting handle and facilitate this process.
This is going to equalize the tax rates on sports betting and pari-mutuel wagering in the state of Kentucky, but what should be taken into account is the fact that the upcoming months are expected to see more debates regarding the proposed bill.
