Bills propose tax rise for sports betting and igaming in Michigan

A separate bill has been introduced for each vertical.

US.- Two bills have been introduced in the Michigan Senate proposing increases to online casino and online sports betting taxes. SB 1193 would raise the online sports betting tax rate by 0.1 point from 8.4 per cent to 8.5 per cent, while SB 1194 would add one percentage point to existing online casino tax rates, which vary depending on operator revenue.

For revenue under $4m, the tax rate would increase from 20 per cent to 21 per cent. Subsequent rates would be 23 per cent on revenue between $4m and $8m, 25 per cent on revenue between $8m and $10m, 27 per cent on revenue from $10m to $12m and 29 per cent on revenue over $12m.

The bills are co-sponsored by senators Sam Singh and Jeremy Moss and would amend the Lawful Sports Betting Act, 2019 and the Lawful Internet Gaming Act, 2019, respectively. They have been referred to the Senate Government Operations Committee.

The bills also slightly adjust the distribution of taxes, which are directed to the Internet Gaming Fund, Detroit services and the agricultural fund. The amount that goes to the city where an operator is located would rise from 30 per cent to 31 per cent, while the proportion for the state fund would drop from 65 per cent to 63.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent (up from 5 per cent) would go to the Michigan agriculture equine industry development fund. From online casino revenue, cities would continue to receive 30 per cent, the state fund 64.5 per cent and the agriculture equine industry development fund 5.5 per cent.

Senate Bill 1193 would apply only to non-tribal betting since the state can’t change tribal betting rates.

See also: Michigan igaming and sports betting revenue reaches $253.7m in October