On line Poker takes hit from the US House

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
There is light in the tunnel.....

Will the US Leave $40 Billion in Tax Revenues On the Table?
According to the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, a new tax revenue analysis announced by Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA), pictured left, estimates that regulating Internet gambling would generate between $8.7 billion to $42.8 billion in federal revenues over its first ten years. The findings of the analysis, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, were provided to all Members of Congress by McDermott earlier this week.

“Before us is a tremendous opportunity to protect consumers and recoup billions of dollars that should be collected by the Internal Revenue Service,” said Representative McDermott. “These are revenues that are desperately needed, given that we are at war and face difficulty financing the nation’s priorities.”

Representative McDermott introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (H.R. 2607), which would tax regulated Internet gambling. According to McDermott,

the current approach, prohibiting Internet gambling through the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), has proved to be a failure. “Instead of this ineffective attempt to prevent adults from gambling over the Internet, we need a more sensible approach to protect consumers and ensure that revenues that now flow offshore stay here in the U.S. and are therefore subject to taxation.”

McDermott’s bill is a companion to the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2046), legislation introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) that would establish a licensing and enforcement framework for regulated Internet gambling in the U.S. The legislation would allow States to retain full control over the regulation of Internet gambling within their borders, applying additional taxes, protections and limitations as determined necessary and appropriate.

”By prohibiting a popular, recreational activity that many millions enjoy in the comfort of their own homes, the U.S. is forfeiting billions of dollars in revenue needed for critical government programs,” said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. “It is time for Congress to regulate and tax Internet gambling to ensure security controls are in place to protect consumers and capture billions in revenue.”
 
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EricBess

Guest
It's the wave of the future. Encourage desperate Americans to become adicts any way possible, and "regulate" it so that we can funnel moneys into political programs. Effectively, it's a great way to tax the poor and the desperate. California has a ballot measure to allow 4 casinos to install thousands of additional slot machines that will supposedly bring in billions of dollars of revenue for the state. My question? Where does that revenue come from? From those same people who are currently in a desperate situation because their homes are getting foreclosed. Gambling is going to save those people!!!
 

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
Stop the hysterics..... the tax is on the winnings of the players and the profits of the poker sites.... currently these revenues are going to other countries, not the US. Why not collect those revenues here?
Also, with effective regulation, underage gambling will be lessened and compulsive losers can be banned from online play.... of course they can break the law and still play, it just will be harder for them.... you can't stop idiots from being idiots, it's in the constitution....

Slots, roulette and the like are not games of skill, but like lotteries, games of luck. Poker is a game of skill, with some luck. The math backs me up here.
 
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EricBess

Guest
No hysterics intended. If they want to track the winnings and losings so that people can declare that as taxable income, then go for it. Do the losers get to declare it as a business expense also?

I'm actually more frustrated by the ballot measures here in CA where the revenues come from the house's winnings (ie, from the losers).

Regardless, gambling, like any addiction, is all well and good except for those people who play one too many game and then can't seem to break the habit. Like drinking, it's not exactly victimless either. Plenty of families are destroyed and crime rates are higher in areas with high gambling.
 

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
So, prohibition worked? Regulate it and lessen the impact of idiots.....
Nothing is perfect, but letting other countries or criminals collect the revenue is head in the sand style thinking.
By the way, the house only gets the rake and it's the same for all players at the table, winners or losers.

If the CA measure is about slots and lotteries type games then, I agree. That stuff is pure luck, that can only be slightly improved with some education and math.

As with anything you can declare a business lose for like 2 years, but after that it's not a business, but a hobby........ I think that's how it works now.... I'm not a tax expert.......
 

Oversoul

The Tentacled One
EricBess said:
Like drinking, it's not exactly victimless either. Plenty of families are destroyed and crime rates are higher in areas with high gambling.
Not victimless, but not a crime either. There's nothing illegal about being an alcoholic.
 

Mooseman

Isengar Tussle
EricBesscrime said:
rates are higher in areas with high gambling.
So crime rates go up in your neighborhood if you play online poker? Does the crime go up near lottery ticket machines?
Since there are no areas with just poker games and not slots and crap like that, it is impossible to predict the impact of poker games on community or households.
Unregulated online poker is infinitely worse that regulated online poker.....
 
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