Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Judd Greg (R-NH) introduced to the US Senate a new bill which includes the regulation and taxation of online gambling, including poker.
The Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010 (S 3018), includes a detailed plan to the regulation and taxation of internet gambling including the definition of Federal licensing requirements for internet gambling operators and the imposition of licensing fees and taxation of profits.
Current legislative situation in the US is problematic for all online gambling, including poker. The Unlawful internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), forbidding all types of internet gambling, will be enforced in the US starting June 2010, and will basically eliminate all legal online gambling activities, enjoyed today by millions of Americans.
This new Senate initiative is joining massive efforts lead by the Poker Players Alliance and Congressman Barney Frank, all aiming at cancelling the UIGEA and replacing it with the regulation and taxation of online gambling, especially poker. Those efforts have lead to the postponement of the UIGEA enforcement from December 2009 to June 2010, but have not ceased since then.
The “Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act” deals with various taxation issues. Its’ main action is the elimination of Alternative Minimum Tax, and reduction of the number of individual tax brackets from 6 to 3: 15%, 25%, 35%, with the purpose of decreasing the tax burden on middle class Americans.
