New Jersey Revising Tax Estimates For Online GamblingAn Extra $34 Million Will Come In Thanks To Web Games |
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The New Jersey online gaming industry has been steadily growing since its inception in late November of last year.
Despite this, the state is revising some of its projections on tax revenue from the new games. To put it simply, some predicted that the games would be more lucrative right off the bat than they have proven to be.
Early predictions were that more than $1 billion would be reaped by the casinos from online gambling during fiscal year one. That would have netted the state around $180 million in extra tax revenue.
According to the most recent reporting from The Star-Ledger, the state now estimates that an extra $34 million in tax revenue will be collected from the casino industry and put into state coffers, thanks to the online games and whatever positive effects they have on brick-and-mortar action, in the fiscal year ending in June.
Just last week, the state said that casinos incurred $15.9 million in gaming taxes for February, reflecting eight percent of taxable casino gross revenue and 15 percent of Internet gaming gross revenue. Online gaming revenue for the month crossed the $10-million mark.
“We were told by industry at the time that the introduction of online gaming would help energize Atlantic City’s ongoing recovery,” state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff said last month, reported the Star-Ledger. “We’re pretty bullish on this in the medium-to-long term. But clearly, this hasn’t met our expectations for the first fiscal year.”
Nearly $3 million in tax revenue has come from online gambling alone from late November to the end of February. Hence, the massive revision down from the $180 million.
Atlantic City has 11 casinos now, after one closed earlier this year.
More than $5 billion in casino revenue was recorded in a record-setting 2006 for Atlantic City, but now the casino industry is sized at less than $3 billion.
In addition to New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware have legalized online gambling.
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