New Online Gambling Regulation Bill in US Senate
Two United States Senators have introduced the Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010. Though the primary purpose of this legislation is to simplify the tax regime it contains provisions for legalizing, regulating and taxing online gambling. The Senators who have introduced the bill are Ron Wyden from Oregon and Judd Gregg from New Hampshire. Wyden is a Democrat and Gregg is a Republican, which again brings to the fore that legalization of online gambling enjoys bipartisan support.
The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative was among the first to respond to the introduction of this bill. Its spokesperson Michael Waxman said that the prohibition on Internet gambling has failed to prevent the American people from gambling online. At the same time the country is losing much needed tax revenue to offshore operators. A regulated framework for online gambling is needed to protect the players as well. Waxman added, “We applaud Senators Wyden and Gregg for taking the initiative to address and drive this issue.”
Senator Wyden’s stand on using online gambling to generate tax revenue is well known. He had earlier introduced an amendment in the Senate Finance Committee to use tax revenue from online gambling to meet the costs of health care reform. That amendment was unfortunately not brought to a vote. At that time the Committee had decided to limit revenue provisions to matters closely related to heath care. Hopefully he will succeed through the Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010.
Meanwhile the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act sponsored by Representative Barney Frank is expected to come up for a vote in the House Finance Committee in March. On June 1, 2010 the UIGEA Rules go into effect and that is the deadline everyone is trying to beat.
