Lawmakers reintroduce Wager Act in hopes of repealing federal sports tax
The bill’s sponsors stated it will ‘protect legal sportsbooks and gaming businesses’ as well as ‘help Nevada and Tribal communities reinvest gaming revenues into local economies.’
Key Points
- The legislation would exempt sports betting operators from the 0.25% federal excise tax placed upon all legal wagers and the annual “head” tax equating to $50 per employee
- Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Cindy Hyde-Smith officially reintroduced the Wager Act on September 12, following the bill’s failure to pass in July 2024
Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Cindy Hyde-Smith officially reintroduced the Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates (Wager) Act in the hopes of exempting sports betting operators from the 0.25% federal excise tax placed upon all legal wagers and the annual “head” tax equating to $50 per employee.
“It’s past time to exempt legal sports betting from outdated taxes that are actually incentivizing illegal sportsbooks,” Senator Cortez Masto said.
“This is bipartisan, commonsense legislation that will help boost local economies across the United States.”
The bill’s sponsors also stated it will “protect legal sportsbooks and gaming businesses” as well as “help states like Nevada and Tribal communities reinvest gaming revenues into local economies.”
Senators Cortez Masto and Hyde-Smith originally introduced the Wager Act in July 2024, but the legislation failed to pass in the last US congressional session. The taxes placed upon regulated sports betting operators were first established as part of the Internal Revenue Code in 1951.
Good to know: Nevada Representative Dina Titus announced via social media on September 9 that the House Rules Committee denied her Fair Bet Act as an amendment to the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act
“Mississippi’s casinos and resorts play a key role in tourism, jobs and community investment along our Gulf Coast,” Senator Hyde-Smith said.
“For too long, this outdated federal tax on sports betting has held this industry back, all while giving illegal offshore operators, and now new out-of-state run prediction markets, an unfair edge against our more traditional casinos in Mississippi and elsewhere.”
Senator Cortez Masto went on to state that now is an “ideal time” to pass the legislation and provide tax relief for sports betting operators, given the recent decline in tourism for Las Vegas and southern Nevada as a whole.
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