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Pennsylvania gaming tax surcharge may rise

PENNSYLVANIA – As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer: "The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is just weeks away from running out of money and is negotiating with gambling operators over the size of a tax surcharge on their revenue.

"Though the board initially said it would assess the gaming companies a 5 percent surcharge on top of the 54 percent tax the companies now pay to the state, a fierce backlash by the operators yesterday led to hastily arranged negotiations involving the two sides, plus representatives of the Rendell administration and the state Department of Revenue, said board spokesman Doug Harbach.

"The board, which last month completed the awarding of licenses to 11 operators, is allowed to tap into slots revenue to finance its efforts to regulate the state's gambling industry.

"…He added that the surcharge was intended to spare taxpayers from having to foot the costs of the board's operations.

"He also said the board was an independent agency that would be funded, not from the state's general fund, but from fees it would assess on the gambling operations it regulated…"

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