U.S. Reps. Dina Titus and Guy Reschenthaler are again trying to get lawmakers to wipe out the 0.25% federal excise tax on sports betting handle.
The co-chairs of the Congressional Gaming Caucus filed the movement on Tuesday for the fourth consecutive legislative session and the fourth time since the repeal of PASPA began the spread of online sports betting across the U.S., having also done so in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
The “handle tax” has been in place since 1951, when the American gambling landscape looked very different. The reps noted in a statement that it was introduced to counter illegal gambling and is “no longer relevant today.”
“The Discriminatory Gaming Tax Repeal Act of 2025 repeals a tax that does nothing except penalize legal gaming operators for creating thousands of jobs in Nevada and 37 other states around the nation,” said Nevada Rep. Titus, a longstanding opponent of the handle tax. “Illegal sportsbooks do not pay the .25% sports handle tax and the accompanying $50 per head tax on sportsbook employees, giving them an unfair advantage.
“I once asked the IRS where the revenue from the handle tax went in the federal budget and they didn’t even know. It makes no sense to give the illegal market an edge over legal sports books with a tax the federal government does not even track.”
I reintroduced legislation to eliminate the outdated tax on legal sports betting. The tax was put in place in 1951 to help prosecute illegal bookies who did not pay taxes. Today it only helps illegal operators attract more customers. pic.twitter.com/Tmikv8PGIW
— Dina Titus (@repdinatitus) February 18, 2025
The reps’ efforts were reflected in a Senate bill that was introduced last year by Nevada’s Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Mississippi’s Cindy Hyde-Smith. The Withdrawing Arduous Gaming Excise Rates (WAGER) Act was referred to the Committee on Finance but made no headway.
Titus also opposes reintroduced GRIT Act
Titus has also been critical of the Gambling Addiction, Investment, and Treatment (GRIT) Act, which Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Oregon Rep. Andrea Salinas re-filed earlier this month.
That legislation, which proposes taking half of the funds generated by the federal excise tax and applying it to problem gambling funding, is endorsed by the National Council on Problem Gaming (NCPG) but has also drawn opposition from the American Gaming Association.
“The growing legalization of sports betting coupled with the ability to place bets from your phone whenever you want have created the perfect storm for gambling addiction — resulting in a severe public health crisis,” Blumenthal said in a release. “The GRIT Act will allocate dedicated federal funding to tackle problem gambling head-on, allowing individuals suffering from gambling addiction to access support, resources, and treatment. With this legislation, we work to stop addiction and save lives.”
The pair of lawmakers had introduced the same legislation last year. Blumenthal is also a co-sponsor of the Supporting Affordability and Fairness with Every (SAFE) Bet Act, alongside Rep. Paul Tonko, which calls for a wide range of restrictions on betting including advertising bans, deposit limits and college prop prohibitions.
