Massachusetts Receives $5.5 Million in Tax Revenue from Slots

Events & Reports

The State of Massachusetts has collected $5.5 million from slot taxes in February, 82 per cent of which is intended for the Local Aid fund. In its monthly revenue report for Plainridge Park Casino released Thursday, the state gambling regulator announced that since the opening of the venue in June 2015, it has received nearly $212,9 million in state taxes.

Gambling fans spent $163,7 million while playing slot machines at Plainridge Park Casino last month which is an increase of more than $5 million from January. The gambling venue generated nearly $13.9 in Gross Gaming Revenue from its Slot Parlor, while $1,25 million was collected as race horse assessments. The figures show positive growth for the Category 2 Slot Parlor after a four-month plunge in revenues from slots.

The state receives 49 per cent of the slot gross gaming revenue generated by Plainridge Park Casino and 82 per cent of this total taxed amount goes to the Local Aid fund. The other 18 per cent of this amount is paid to the Race Horse Development Fund, which was created to support the horse racing industry in Massachusetts. Clearly visible from the regulator’s reports, horse racing is not particularly popular within the state, with monthly earnings of a little more than $1 million generated at Plainridge Park Casino.

Currently, there are no functional casinos in Massachusetts as Plainridge Park Casino is defined as a harness racing track with a slot machine parlor of Category 2, which was added in June, 2015. The facility, located in Plainville, Massachusetts, is owned by Penn National Gaming. A couple of casino projects are underway, MGM Springfield and Wynn Boston Harbor. Several tribal casinos are also planned.

$212,9 Poured in State Coffers for Less than 3 Years

According to the latest Plainridge Park Casino revenue report, the gambling facility has contributed to the state economy nearly $212,9 million since the official opening of the Slot Parlor in June 2015. This figure represents the taxes from the slot machines and the race track collected over a period of two years and a half.

At the same time, customers have spent $5,4 billion at Plainridge Park Casino since the Slots Parlor has opened, with nearly 434,5 million of this amount kept as Gross Gaming Revenue from Slots. Currently, this is the only gambling venue operating within the state borders, although several properties have been planned and construction has commenced on some of them.

The State of Massachusetts requires casinos and other gambling facilities to file monthly detailed revenue reports, which serve as a basis for the state tax. Venues from Category 1 – casino resorts, are taxed 25 per cent of the gross gaming revenue and in addition, the license tax they need to pay is $85 million. Although there are still no casino resorts in the state, the collected taxes from them will go to several funds, including the Healthcare Payment Reform Fund and the Community Colleges Fund.

Gambling facilities from Category 2, such as Plainville’s Plainridge Park Casino are taxed on 49 per cent of the gross gaming revenue. The single-time fee they need to pay for receiving such a license is considerably lower at $25 million. State officials expect that the Commonwealth would receive $250 million annually in direct revenues from Category 1 facilities, once they become operational. Until then, however, they can rely mainly on taxes collected from Plainridge Park Casino.

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