New Per-Bet Tax Puts Bite On Illinois Sports Bettors
Bettors in Illinois have begun to feel the bite of a new law that imposes either a 25-cent or 50-cent fee on wagers legally placed on the top sports betting sites within the state.
On Wednesday, BetMGM debuted its new $2.50 bet minimum for wagers placed on its online platform in Illinois.
Other online operators have passed that per-bet tax along to customers, or imposed a floor on the wagers it will take.
DraftKings and FanDuel each imposed a 50-cent per-bet fee on each wager made in Illinois.
Hard Rock Bet imposed a $2 bet minimum.
Other operators are expected to follow suit with either a per-bet fee or minimum bet, but none have announced specific plans. The state currently has 10 online operators.
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What The New Illinois Per-Bet Tax Law Says
On May 31, the Illinois General Assembly changed the state’s Sports Wagering Act to include a per-bet fee. The tax is 25 cents for the first 20,000,000 bets per year. The tax increases by 50 cents for each wager above that number in each calendar year, starting on July 1.
The new per-bet tax applies only to bets placed online and does not apply to wagers placed in person or at betting kiosks.
The tax applies to each individual bet. But parlays with multiple legs are considered one wager. But separate bets on a given slip or transactions will each be taxed individually.
And the tax is levied when the wager is placed, not paid out.
At the time the new per-bet tax was passed, The Sports Betting Alliance blasted legislators for the move.
“For the second consecutive year, the Illinois legislature chose to balance its budget with a crippling tax on legal online sports betting operators and their million-plus Illinois customers — this time with no warning and no consideration of the devastating impact this tax would have on the legal market.”
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BetMGM Informed Customers This Week
These per-wager taxes and minimum bets are just another way operators pass along the burden of the new tax onto customers. The per-bet and minimums may also help limit the number of specific wagers made on smaller platforms, keeping them under the 20,000,000-bet threshold.
Books in Illinois have seen their tax rate begin at 15% have since seen it rise to an average of 36% in 2024 following the implementation of a new tax structure last year.
BetMGM customers in Illinois were informed of the change this week. They were told the policy applies to all wagers, including bonus bets.
FanDuel first announced its per-bet surcharge and was followed less than 48 hours later by DraftKings. Both operators expect to cross the 20,000,000-bet number for this fiscal year by September 1 and in will implement the new fee at that time.
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