Kansas Lawmakers Screw Up: Bookies Make $194M, State Gets $1134

Kansas lawmakers passed a law last year that made gambling legal, but also let gambling companies off the hook on taxes.

The Kansas City Beacon newspaper exposed the blunder of Kansas officials. In 2023, when the KC Chiefs won the Super Bowl, locals wagered $194 million on sports. But the state only got $1134 in tax revenue.

That’s 0.00058% of the profit from all bets made by Kansans. The state earned about $6 for every million dollars that gambling firms made.

It looks like lawmakers are siding with big firms and don’t care about the state’s interest. The loopholes in the 2022 laws are still gaping and unfixed.

For example, the bookie BetMGM paid no local taxes until April 2023, claiming $18.6 million as advertising costs. The federal tax for BetMGM was $400,000, as the percentage was calculated on the total amount, including advertising.

The gambling business cuts advertising costs from the total amount and slashes tax payments.

This soft law only applies to Kansas and differs from federal law, where a steeper tax rate is applied.