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State lawmakers are advancing another bill to help make sure that those who lose money gambling – that is, almost everyone who bets – don’t try to kick their habit,” is how N.C. Newsline described House Bill 14.
The bill would allow all gamblers to deduct losses on their state income taxes moved swiftly through a N.C. House committee on April 1 on a divided but bipartisan vote. April Fool’s Day has come indeed.
State Rep. Keith Kidwell (R-Beaufort), who is one of House Bill 14’s sponsors and calls himself a gambling opponent, said the bill is” about fairness to taxpayers” and not about gambling. He and other sponsors said allowing gamblers to deduct their losses, capped at winnings, will align state policy with federal tax law.
Since sports betting launched one year ago on March 11, 2024, in North Carolina, $6.6 billion of bets have been placed across the state Millions of dollars of revenue are taxed, and those tax funds are used to support athletic programs and the state’s general fund. An official calculation of how much tax revenue the state would lose if the bill becomes law is not available, but many of the new sports facilities planned statewide would not have happened had this bill been in place.
Sports betting brought in more than $21 million in 2024. As a result, Appalachian State (which is building a new indoor practice facility for football), East Carolina, Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, N.C. A&T, N.C. Central, UNC Asheville, UNC Charlotte, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke, UNC Wilmington, Western Carolina and Winston-Salem State universities all received $1 million each.
High schools could also receive assistance. The bipartisan bill SB 657, titled the Keeping Our Coaches Act, would allocate $11 million of sports wagering tax revenue every year to eligible public school units to boost the salaries of eligible athletic coaches.
During a committee hearing last week, the Rev. Mark Creech, a lobbyist for the conservative group Return America, said allowing the tax deductions would encourage gambling as he urged the committee not to approve it. He said the bill would be a “gift to the gambling industry, enabling them to keep addicted individuals on the hook – the very people who generate their profits – rather than protecting the average citizen who gambles.”
Supporters say it only makes sense because winnings are taxable. However, common sense tells us that gambling losses are not like losing money due to a weather disaster or business setback, but much more akin to money spent on entertainment – hardly a life necessity.
Since that’s how the gambling industry likes to portray itself, should people also be allowed to deduct money spent on concert or movie tickets? What about lottery tickets that aren’t winners?
As N.C. Newsline put it, “making gambling losses deductible serves no social purpose and is ultimately just another public subsidy for a predatory form of entertainment that is already plenty profitable.” That says it all.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him at 828-837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.