Kentucky not to charge integrity fee over sports betting

Kentucky’s working group on the sports betting, which is planning on ways to regulate sports betting in the state, has decided that taxes will be based on net revenue and there will not be any integrity fees over professional sports leagues.

Sen. Julian M. Carroll said that he believes “there is consensus that the appropriate tax on sports wagering is on net revenue and sports leagues will not receive any fees.” That way, Kentucky would follow the lead of the other six states that have passed sports betting legislation and leave the sports leagues out of the business. According to him, Kentucky lawmakers do not favour an integrity fee because it does not “meet with (the) goals of protecting its citizens and generating new revenue.”

Sen. Carroll pre-filed the net vs. handle issue on taxation and called for a 20 per cent tax on handle as that’s how the state, where horse racing is very popular, taxes pari-mutuel betting. However, the working group has decided to tax on net revenue and is yet undecided on how big the rate will be.

For now, the Kentucky working group continues to discuss how to implement sports betting in the state but Sen. Carroll is confident that legislation will be approved sooner or later as the segment would bring big money to the state coffers.

Source: focusgn.com