McDermott Internet Gambling Bill to Tax Online Casinos
With the release of Barney Frank's Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act yesterday came the introduction of a companion bill. Representative Jim McDermott of Washington authored a measure to establish a tax on online gambling.
While Frank's bill sets up a licensing and regulatory framework for Internet casinos, McDermott's act would create a two percent tax on gross receipts by licensed online gaming sites. The bill also sets greater protections against tax cheating.
“These are merely the rightful collection of taxes where applicable,” McDermott said. The Congressman indicated he wanted to earmark gambling revenue to fund social safety-net programs, especially for children.
“We are losing billions of dollars in federal and state taxes every year because a prior Administration and its supporters drove legitimate U.S. online gambling off-shore by passing an ill-conceived late-night amendment in Congress that has done nothing except make Americans more vulnerable to scams when they wager online," claims McDermott.
McDermott's website says studies estimate federal revenues from online gambling could be as high as $43 billion over a decade, with many billions more for state governments.
