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State tax considerations for Super Bowl LIX bettors

February 8, 2025

Football on field on top of stacks of 100 dollar bils

Tomorrow night, we’ll have a repeat Super Bowl winner. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles have hoisted the NFL’s Lombardi Trophy before.

As I type late Saturday afternoon, sportsbooks have the defending champion Chiefs as 1.5-point favorites to win their third consecutive professional U.S. football title.

The bets on the game’s outcome, as well as the many possible prop bets mentioned in my Friday post, have gotten more attention as more states have allowed wagering within their borders since the gave them the go-ahead in 2018.

So, for this Saturday Shout Out, I’m getting ready for tomorrow's game by shouting a lot about items that focus on state taxes and gambling income.

Since the Super Bowl LIX will be in New Orleans, let’s start in the south, specifically North Carolina.

This will be the first Super Bowl on which Tar Heel residents can legally bet. How that’s affecting residents of Raleigh is examined in Gilat Melamed’s piece North Carolinians able to bet on the Super Bowl for the first time for WNCN/CBS17, this weekend’s first Shout Out.

One estimate is that North Carolinians will bet $59 million on the Super Bowl. Their winnings should help bulk up the state’s treasury even more. “Since launching in March 2024, sports betting has generated an estimated $105 million in tax revenue for the state,” according to Melamed.

Soon, those wagering N.C. taxpayers may get a state tax break.

That possibility is the second Shout Out to Can you deduct gambling losses on taxes in NC? Lawmakers file bill to allow it. The North Carolina House legislation would conform the state’s tax policy to that of the federal government and most states that allow sports betting, reports Brian Murphy for WRAL News.

We move to the Midwest for the third Shout Out, where Jill R. Dorson writes for iGB (iGaming Business) that the Ohio governor wants to double sports betting tax…again. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine wants to raise the legal sports betting tax on operators to 40 percent.

If that happens, writes Dorson, “it would make Ohio the second-most expensive competitive market for wagering operators. New York has the highest tax rate at 51%.”

Our fourth Shout Out takes a nationwide look at gambling revenue.

“The US sports betting industry is in its seventh year of regulated operations outside of Nevada, and proceeds are pouring in. Operators have so far combined to generate close to $40 billion of lifetime gross revenue from more than $450 billion in total handle,” writes Eric Ramsey in the Feb. 3 US Sports Betting Revenue & Handle for LSR (Legal Sports Report). The state breakouts also show a total of more than $7.4 billion  in tax revenue from gambling.

And finally, this weekend’s fifth Shout Out looks at one winner that’s already been decided.

Super Bowl’s $1.4 billion in bets arrive to lift gambling stocks, writes Peyton Forte for BNN Bloomberg. But will the Super Bowl boost be enough to provide longer-term help to the struggling industry, asks Forte, who notes that shares of gambling companies have plunged from their post-pandemic heights.

And with that, I leave you to resume planning your Super Bowl party. And bets.

You also might find these items of interest:

 

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The More Tax Posts tab at the top of this page will take you to, well, more tax posts. You also can search below for a tax topic. 

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TAX-SAVVY WAYS 
TO WRAP UP 2026

It’s over! With October’s extended filing deadline behind us, it is now time to focus on year-end moves to reduce your 2026 tax bill. 

You’ll find ways to do just that on the Tax Tips page (see the More Tax Posts drop-down menu at the top of the blog), as well as the separate tax tip pages for each month, notably October through December. If you’re on the Tax Tips page, you’ll find a monthly list at the end of this column. If you’re on another blog page, you can head straight to the October tips; at the bottom of that tips page you’ll find links to all the other 11 months’ collections of tax advice.

Not to spoil what you’ll find in that tax advice, but it does cover such things as tax deductions for charitable donations, investment moves that could reduce tax due, and ways to max out your tax-favored retirement savings. 

Finally, as the year winds down, things get hectic. There are lots of other things to occupy our time, like the much more fun upcoming holidays. But don’t lose sight of taxes, since timing is key. To be of use, most tax moves must be made by the end of the tax year. That’s Thursday, Dec. 31, which also is the last business day of the year. 

So that you don’t miss that final tax year deadline, also keep an eye on the countdown clock below. It will keep you on top of just how much time is left to make important, tax-saving moves. (Note: I’m in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.)

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