New York looks like it will be collecting more taxes from gambling than Nevada for the first time ever this year
As it stands now, New York is already on track to earn more funding through gambling than Nevada for the current year. If this comes to be, than Nevada is going to be considered the number 3 state in terms of tax revenue in regards to casinos within its jurisdiction. This is surprising news seeing as Nevada is considered the gambling capital of the United States, particularly due to Las Vegas being one of the most popular cities in the country.
Above both New York and Nevada actually sits Pennsylvania. They have managed to bring in $1.38 billion dollars in tax revenue from their casinos, which is significantly higher than Nevada. Nevada has previously brought in about $900 million from their casinos. As for New York, they are the newcomer on the market and are quickly climbing to take that number one spot. They created a bill to legalize gambling in the state back in 2001, and had developed their first casino by 2004. Now, the state of New York has nine casinos spread out around the area. However, most of the gambling occurs at just two of the venues – The Empire City Casino and the Resorts World Casino. These are both very popular choices that tend to bring in large crowds to their gaming floors.
These nine casinos in New York are generating as much in tax revenue for the state as the 271 current casinos operating in Nevada. Nevada has been in the gambling industry for far longer as well, ever since 1931. Last year Nevada had growth of .87 percent, while New York stomped them in growth at 2.8 percent. At this rate, it won’t be long before New York manages to surpass Nevada. Pennsylvania has grown the fastest of course though. They didn’t even legalize gambling until New York already had their first casino, making it legal in 2004. The first Pennsylvania casino popped up later in 2007, which means that there has been an active gambling industry in the state for less than a decade. This doesn’t mean that the state is necessarily doing better in terms of gambling popularity, they just happen to have pretty steep taxes on their casinos.
Slot machines are taxed with a 55 percent tax on their gross revenue, while table games face a smaller 16 percent tax on revenue. Tax revenue from the state has continued to grow and saw a 2.34 percent climb last year in 2015 over the previous year. Taxes go towards local projects such as economic development, tourism, tax relief, and even towards the horse racing industry that has been facing some hardships.
As more and more states continue to legalize gambling, and some are doing it quite successfully, it’s likely that over the next couple of decades we will begin to see other powerhouses and major cities that take over the market. Nevada may not be the capital of the gambling world for long.
