Senators reintroduce bill to repeal sportsbook handle tax
Two US senators are attempting to reverse the federal excise tax on sportsbooks’ handles, mentioning pressure from illegal markets and prediction platforms.
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Cindy Hyde-Smith on Thursday re-filed the Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates Act, which would exempt regulated sportsbooks from the 0.25% federal levy applied to all wagers.
Representative Cortez Masto said, “It’s past time to exempt legal sports betting from outdated taxes that are actually incentivizing illegal sportsbooks.”
The pair presented a similar bill in 2024, but it failed to advance. Those sponsoring the act said it aims to “protect legal sportsbooks and gaming businesses” and “help states like Nevada and tribal communities reinvest their gaming revenues into their local economies.”
Representative Hyde-Smith indicated competition from event contracts and prediction markets, warning that the existing tax gives offshore and nontraditional operators an advantage.
Nevada sportsbooks paid nearly US$22 million in handle taxes in 2022, almost double the total in 2019.
Representative Cortez Masto said the timing was critical given recent declines in Las Vegas visitation. The American Gaming Association also backed the measure, calling the tax “punitive.”
Separately, Representative Cortez Masto is pushing the Full House Act to restore the full tax deduction for gambling losses, introduced this year under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Other lawmakers, including US Rep. Dina Titus and Rep. Andy Barr, have introduced similar bills.
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