US Losing Billions on Online Gambling Prohibition

Regulated internet gambling is estimated to generate from $8.7 billion-$42.8 billion in federal revenues in its first ten years for the US economy, according to a recent tax revenue analysis. The PricewaterhouseCooper report was propounded to the US House of Congress by Representative Jim McDermott, who explained, "Before us is a tremendous opportunity to protect consumers and recoup billions of dollars that should be collected by the Internal Revenue Service. These are revenues that are desperately needed, given that we are at war and face difficulty financing the nation's priorities." To that end, Rep. McDermott has issued the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (H.R. 2607), aimed at a structured taxation plan for Internet gambling, and supplanting the ineffectual legislation currently in force, i.e., the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

In the words of Jeffrey Sandman of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, "By prohibiting a popular, recreational activity that many millions enjoy in the comfort of their own homes, the U.S. is forfeiting billions of dollars in revenue needed for critical government programs. It is time for Congress to regulate and tax Internet gambling to ensure security controls are in place to protect consumers and capture billions in revenue."