A key lawmaker pushing for casinos in northern New Jersey, US, says the state could impose a tax rate of 40 to 60 per cent on their winnings.
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, a northern New Jersey Democrat, said last month that the exact tax rate will be negotiated and included in “enabling legislation.” Lawmakers have not committed to deciding details of that legislation before a proposed statewide referendum on north Jersey casinos in November.
“As a guess, it will be 40 to 60 per cent, as opposed to what we have now,” Caputo said. New Jersey currently taxes casino revenue at eight per cent.
Jeff Gural, operator of the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, where he proposed a casino with Hard Rock International, has offered to pay a 55 per cent tax rate.
But state Senate president Steve Sweeney has said that tax rate should be lower than that in order to ensure that the new casinos can thrive financially, particularly with a requirement that owners of the new casinos spend at least $1bn on their projects.
The exact tax rate that two new proposed northern New Jersey casinos would pay is one of several key details that lawmakers have not settled.
