How much Tax Revenue if it was legal?

[alecr45]

I was thinking today, as I am sure most of you have, about the potential tax revenue the Gov. could make from legalizing internet poker. Does anyone have any information or spectulations on the amount of money the Gov. would make if they legalized internet poker?

[1p0kerboy]

3.3 billion in federal tax revenue and addition 1 billion in state tax revenue could be raised if the federal government were to regulate Internet poker.

from PPA's website

[Das Budrick]

[ QUOTE ]
3.3 billion in federal tax revenue and addition 1 billion in state tax revenue could be raised if the federal government were to regulate Internet poker.

from PPA's website

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this is per year?

[jmxthievez]

a crapload more than 0

[1p0kerboy]

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this is per year?

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no this is total ever.

[1p0kerboy]

^^^^^sarcasm^^^^^

[Mondogarage]

Considering how little the PPA shares about it's own numbers and revenue, I think any hyperbolic assumptions have to be looked at a bit skeptically.

That said, the number is likely to be quite considerable per year, but the mechanism is tougher. How does the US tax multi-national tournaments, where the half the payees may be playing from Europe on a site based in Antigua, and aren't subject to US tax laws? So you can't just have the US take, say, a 3% rake off each payout.

You're supposed to take earnings, not expenditures, so you can't have the US, say, take a small cut of money going *into* a tourney pool. How do you tax ring games?

And how would federal government approval put money in state tax authorities' hands?

Don't mind me, just askin' questions.

[rokstedy]

[ QUOTE ]
Considering how little the PPA shares about it's own numbers and revenue, I think any hyperbolic assumptions have to be looked at a bit skeptically.

That said, the number is likely to be quite considerable per year, but the mechanism is tougher. How does the US tax multi-national tournaments, where the half the payees may be playing from Europe on a site based in Antigua, and aren't subject to US tax laws? So you can't just have the US take, say, a 3% rake off each payout.

You're supposed to take earnings, not expenditures, so you can't have the US, say, take a small cut of money going *into* a tourney pool. How do you tax ring games?

And how would federal government approval put money in state tax authorities' hands?

Don't mind me, just askin' questions.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is an excellent point and is the precise reason they are going to such great lengths to shut everything down.

Elsewhere, I've heard people comment that why not just regulate it, let the feds have their tax cut and go back to business as usual. That the fact they hadn't done that was the logic behind why they thought it was a moral crusade after all. The fact is, that's next to impossible.

The feds need to put a lock down on the whole thing. Tabula rasa. Then put in the regs to allow for internet casinos to be based in the states so that they can tax more accurately. Whether the players being hosted are american or not, their rake is taxed.

[1p0kerboy]

[ QUOTE ]
How does the US tax multi-national tournaments, where the half the payees may be playing from Europe on a site based in Antigua

[/ QUOTE ]

I've thought about this myself.

Sadly, this is likely to be what holds the process up of legalizing and regulating online poker. There's no guarantee that the U.S. would see the bulk of the profit.

I assume that poker rooms that operate in the U.S. would be subject to U.S. regulation and taxation.

If they set up a platform in which only U.S. players could play on, they are violating the WTO far more than they are now.

There would have to be incentive for the for companies to bring their businesses to the U.S.

[atomicsoda]

Not too complicated to tax. Tax profits of the site like any other business or total revenues like casinos are taxed in many states. Require all sites available to US residents to be licensed by an American state not a foreign entity.