Latest news with #ReturnAmerica
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House committee approves gambling loss income tax deduction
Each pin represents someone placing a bet in the first hour sports gambling went live in North Carolina on March 11, 2023. (Source: NC Lottery Commission) A proposal to allow gamblers to deduct losses on their state income taxes moved swiftly through a North Carolina House committee Tuesday on a divided but bipartisan vote. Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort), a gambling opponent and one of House Bill 14's sponsors, said the bill is' about fairness to taxpayers' and not about gambling. Since online sports betting became legal in North Carolina last March, more than $6 billion has been wagered, according to state reports published before the Super Bowl. The bill's sponsors said allowing gamblers to deduct their losses, capped at winnings, will align state policy with federal tax law. Rep. Bryan Cohn (D-Granville), said he agreed state policy 'should follow federal guidance.' An official calculation of how much tax revenue the state would lose if the bill becomes law was not available online. At a committee hearing last week, Rev. Mark Creech, lobbyist for the conservative group Return America, said allowing the tax deductions would encourage gambling as he urged the committee not to approve it. In prepared remarks he was not invited to give on Tuesday, Creech wrote the bill would be a 'gift to the gambling industry, enabling them to keep addicted individuals on the hook — the very people who generate their profits — rather than protecting the average citizen who gambles.' Some House Commerce and Economic Development Committee members voted against the bill on Tuesday, but not enough to stop it from moving it to its next step, the House Finance Committee.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House bill would allow bettors to deduct losses on NC taxes
Each pin represents someone placing a bet in the first hour sports gambling went live in North Carolina on March 11, 2023. (Source: NC Lottery Commission) North Carolina gamblers would be able to deduct losses on their state taxes under a bill the state House Commerce and Economic Development Committee discussed Tuesday. North Carolina taxes winnings, but gamblers are not able to deduct their losses, bill sponsors said. Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort) is a gambling opponent who cosponsored House Bill 14. 'This is not a gambling bill,' he said. 'This is a fairness in taxation bill.' The change would bring North Carolina in line with federal tax law, said Rep. Erin Pare, (R-Wake). If a bettor won $10,000 in a year but also lost $10,000, the bettor would owe state income tax on the $10,000 even though they just broke even, Pare said. The law leaves bettors with tax bills they may not be able to pay. The bill would benefit people who bet big and itemize their deductions, Kidwell said. Rev. Mark Creech, lobbyist for the conservative group Return America, opposed the bill. It 'reduces the immediate financial impact of losing money,' he said, and 'lowers the deterrent to risky behavior.' Online sports betting became legal in the state in March 2024. James Joyce of Holly Springs said he and friends began betting on sports online last year, but stopped when they discovered they could not deduct their losses. 'Taxing winnings without allowing loss deductions is completely unjust,' he said. 'This punishes responsible bettors.' The committee heard discussion of the bill but did not vote.
