Finding the Exceptions
You can’t gamble at online casinos in the United States but it seems that some
states are looking at the revenue potential within the internet keno business.
The U.S. has some very confusing laws in place that specifically ban types of
internet gambling – particularly foreign based companies. The Ohio government
though has announced plans to expand the state lottery to include televised and
online keno as a way to boost funding for education programs in the state. Using
forms of online casino gambling to boost tax revenues for state governments is a
main pro-internet gambling debate for many politicians and it seems that the
Ohio legislature also sees the benefit of taxing forms of gambling to boost the
state budget.
The announcement that Ohio is launching internet keno comes right on the heels
of Representative McDermott’s announcement of a tax bill that accompanies Barney
Frank’s IGREA legislation. As legalized online casino gambling becomes more of a
reality for the U.S. market, citizens are looking for politicians to flesh out
their plans. That is where taxing gambling revenues comes into play – just as
Ohio plans to tax internet keno to benefit underfunded areas of the budget,
McDermott’s bill proposes that states could use tax revenue gleaned from the
internet casinos to fund the foster care system.
Specifically relating to Ohio’s new online keno announcement though, the
televised and internet keno offerings will run through the state lottery system
that is already in place. Some in the online casino gambling industry are still
skeptical though about the legality of offering internet keno. Then again,
legislative carve-outs that specifically benefit U.S. companies and programs are
a specialty right now and internet keno could very well successfully launch
without comment from the federal government. |