Wyoming and Indiana introduce bills to legalize online casino
Wyoming’s HB0162 would tax igaming at 16% of GGR and comes after Spectrum Gaming study into efficacy of market, while Indiana proposes to tax operators between 22% and 30% of GGR
Wyoming and Indiana have introduced bills which seek to legalize online casino in their respective states and ahead of each state’s legislative sessions starting.
Wyoming’s House Bill 162 is sponsored by representative Bob Davis, who said in December he would reintroduce legislation once the legislative session resumed on January 14.
In September 2024, the Wyoming Gaming Commission backed a study conducted by Spectrum Gaming Group into the future of gaming in the Cowboy State.
The study found that the igaming market could have generated up to $138.4m in GGR for full-year 2024 and gave its backing to legalization of the vertical.
HB162 would allow for no more than five operator permits and a GGR tax rate of 16%.
The bill added: “The first $300,000 of interactive gaming revenue collected under this section shall be continuously appropriated to the Department of Health to be distributed to the counties for the purpose of funding county health programs to prevent and treat problematic gaming behavior.”
It added that 40% would go to counties based upon their population, 50% to the school foundation program, and 10% to the Commission’s gaming account to cover costs.
The bill also outlines the fee for both an initial application and the renewal of a license to be $2,500, while the regulator would charge $100,000 for an operator’s permit which would last five years.
The renewal of the license would cost $50,000.
Additionally, B2B supplier licenses would require an initial fee of $10,000 and $5,000 for future five-year renewals.
HB162 also outlines that should there be qualified operators wanting to operate in Wyoming, the regulator “shall issue not less than five (5) interactive gaming operator permits to applicants that satisfy the requirements.”
“If an insufficient number of applicants apply for an interactive gaming operator permit, this provision shall not be interpreted to direct the Commission to issue a permit to an unqualified applicant,” the bill adds.
Davis’ HB162 arrives on the back of last February’s HB120, which he also sponsored and included a proposed tax of 10% of GGR.
Indiana’s HB1432, introduced by representative Ethan Manning, would legalize both online casinos and lottery couriers in the state.
On the igaming side, a tax rate of between 22% and 30% of GGR has been suggested based on a sliding scale.
Operators with GGR less than $4m would pay 22% tax, while those posting GGR up to $8m and above $4m would be subject to a 24% rate.
Companies reporting GGR between $8m and $10m would face a 26% tax, while there is a 28% rate for those with GGR between $10m and $12m, and finally a 30% levy for operators with GGR above $12m.
The bill proposes operators allowed to own an icasino license can be either a licensed owner of a riverboat, an operating riverboat owner in a historic hotel district, or a “permit holder conducting gambling games at the permit holder’s racetrack.”
It adds the Commission would be able to accept applications for licenses from July 1, 2025, with applicants paying an initial fee $500,000 – the renewal fee would cost $50,000.