Nevada Lawmaker Trying Again to Kill Federal Excise Tax on Sports Bets

Taxes | February 19, 2025

Nevada Lawmaker Trying Again to Kill Federal Excise Tax on Sports Bets

The quarter percent federal excise tax, also known as the handle tax, "does nothing except penalize legal gaming operators for creating thousands of jobs," said U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas.

By Kyle Chouinard
Las Vegas Sun
(TNS)

Feb. 18—U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, is again trying to remove the quarter percent federal excise tax, also known as the handle tax, on legal sports bets, she announced today.

The tax “does nothing except penalize legal gaming operators for creating thousands of jobs,” she said in a statement.

“Illegal sportsbooks do not pay the .25% sports handle tax and the accompanying $50 per head tax on sportsbook employees, giving them an unfair advantage,” Titus said.

“I once asked the IRS where the revenue from the handle tax went in the federal budget and they didn’t even know,” she said.

Titus introduced the Discriminatory Gaming Tax Repeal Act with her fellow Congressional Gaming Caucus Co-chair Guy Reschenthaler, R- Pa.

She and Reschenthaler introduced similar bills to remove the excise tax in 2019, 2021 and 2023.

At October’s Global Gaming Expo at the Venetian, Titus said she would continue her push for the legislation.

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© 2025 the Las Vegas Sun (Las Vegas, Nev.). Visit www.lasvegassun.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency LLC.

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