Tax Rate Helps Casinos In Pennsylvania Pass Nevada In Tax Revenue

Pennsylvania casinos have already made up ground on the Atlantic City gaming industry, and now they may set their sights on Nevada. A recent article in The Morning Call in Allentown, Pennsylvania, suggests that the state collected more tax revenue from its casinos than Nevada did theirs.

The timing of the release of information is significant in that Pennsylvania casinos have recently started to operate regulated table games. Lawmakers approved the table games earlier this year, but it took until the summer to get the games operational.

For the fiscal year that ended on June 30th, Pennsylvania casinos were over one billion dollars in tax revenue. Nevada was third in the nation with $831 million collected. Indiana came in a surprising second, with $878 million. Tax revenue is much different than overall gambling revenue.

In Pennsylvania, the tax rate for casinos is fifty-five percent. That means that the nine casinos in the state are paying over half of their gambling winnings to the state. Nevada has many more casinos, 260 in total, but the casinos only pay a tax rate of eight percent.

While the tax rate remains high for casinos, other areas of the state have had their tax rates lowered. Real Estate taxes are down in Pennsylvania, and the gaming revenue has also been used to help fund other parts of the state budget.

Even with all of the revenue, legislators decided earlier this year to legalize table games. The suggestion came from Governor Ed Rendell, who threatened to cut state jobs if lawmakers did not complete the table game legislation before the end of the session.

July 27, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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