Online Gambling Issues and Concerns
Online Gambling Issues and Concerns
Online gambling is any type of betting conducted online. This includes casinos, online poker and online sports betting. The first online gambling site opened for the public, was ticketing at the Liechtenstein International Poker Tournament in 1994. The US government along with several other countries imposed serious restrictions on online gambling in the hope it would discourage potential addicts to participate.
Online gambling is basically the same as online casinos except that betting is not required by law or by virtue of the fact that gambling takes place in licensed casinos. Most online gambling takes place at websites that are either part of a package deal or are stand alone sites. These gambling websites can be called gambling websites because all the activity related to online casinos, sports betting, online casinos etc happens within these gambling websites.
Over the last twenty years there has been an explosive growth in the online gambling industry. This growth has been fueled largely by the fact that the Internet has opened up a whole new avenue for marketing online gambling, sports betting and online casinos. Traditional brick and mortar casinos have been unable to compete with the rapid growth and success of online gambling websites because they have not been able to establish the same kind of branding recognition that online casinos have done. For example you will find that if you walk into a traditional casino you will be greeted with flashing lights, loud music and some of the familiar tell-tale smells that are designed to get you to pay attention to what is taking place.
The reason the online gambling industry is able to operate with virtually no regulation is that the government has not felt compelled to pass legislation aimed at regulating the industry. In fact the only regulation that has been passed is that all U.S. residents must be age 18 or older and must agree to accept online gambling as a form of payment when playing at gambling online sites. This law is in effect to ensure that all online gambling websites follow federal law which is to make certain that all wagering and gaming activities are carried out in a fair and legal manner. While this is a good policy it does not cover all the different types of online gambling and for this reason there are numerous different types of sports betting available on the Internet today.
The main factor that makes online gambling online in some way distinct from state gambling online is that there are no legal taxes or legalized taxes in most states where online gambling takes place. Although some states do have a tax on online gambling this is usually offset against the tax a player would have to pay in their home state and so it is generally nullified. This being said you will find that the various types of online gambling that are available can still attract a significant amount of revenue to states that have established themselves as professional gambling destinations. This being said a player going to a state such as New York to partake in a game of online poker may expect to pay taxes on their winnings.
This being the case the only time when a player may have to pay any taxes at all to the government or relevant taxation agency is if they win a game. In most states online gambling and sports betting are subject to sales and use taxes which are based on the state’s tax rate and also on each individual game’s tax amount. So online sports betting and online gambling in general can be very low cost or free from government taxation and is the main reason why online gamblers from many different countries now choose to partake in online gambling online. If you are interested in online gambling then you may want to speak to your local state’s taxation department to find out if and how you would be charged with and/or required to pay taxes. You may also be required by your state to obtain a tax identification number, known as an EIN, before you are allowed to gamble online. However, it is very easy to obtain one and so you should not have any problems in obtaining an EIN if you so desire.