Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been pushing to raise online sports betting taxes, but lawmakers are trying to push a compromise for the final state budget.
Moore has advocated for a significant increase in the state’s sports betting tax. In January, in the early draft version of his proposed budget, he signaled his intent to double the tax rate from 15% to 30% to help reduce a $2.7 billion state budget gap.
But, on Thursday at a House Ways and Means Committee session, lawmakers trimmed that back. The budget framework approved in the legislature and announced by Moore on Thursday contains a more modest rise to 20%.
The committee voted 13-5 to approve an amended version of HB 352, titled the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2025. That contains an amended new online sports betting tax rate of 20%.
Here is the list of tax increases proposed in Maryland's framework budget. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/JOL3crt1Wt
— Matt Gregory (@MattGregoryNews) March 20, 2025
Moore had called for a 30% rate for several reasons, arguing that it would mirror the betting tax rates of neighboring states while also fostering sound tax policy and helping to make up the state’s financial shortfall.
At Thursday’s hearing, the committee voted against another proposal Moore had included at the start of the year, a suggestion to raise the tax on casino table games from 20% to 25%.
Whle the committee advanced the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, it must now progress through the legislature and be finalized by April 7. The betting tax rate could still change amid further discussions in the coming weeks, as it needs to be passed by both the House of and the Senate.
Other states looking to move betting tax needle
If signed into law, Maryland’s reduced tax hike would be the latest change a state has made to how it reaps revenue from online wagering.
Ohio doubled its rate from 10% to 20% in 2023 and Illinois introduced a sliding scale of rates, from a low of 20% to a ceiling of 40% for the big-hitters, last May.
In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine wants to go even further, doubling the tax again from 20% to 40%. However, recent reports suggest that proposal is losing the support of key members of the state legislature and his own party.
On the East Coast, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy‘s budget recommendations published last month called for raising the Garden State’s tax rate on online sports betting and iGaming to 25% from 13% and 15%, respectively.
Next door in New York, Carrie Woerner, chair of the Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee‘s gaming subcommittee, proposed allowing more sportsbooks to gain licenses. As part of that suggestion, she wants the state to cut its tax rate as the market expands. The Empire State taxes sports betting at a nationwide high of 51%.
