On Thursday, word broke that U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA, pictured) had introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act. The bill would “create a 12% deposit tax paid by licensed operators,” according to the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative.

The 12% would be divided between the Federal Government (4%) and states and tribes (8%), ensuring that national and local interests are addressed. Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman heralded the bill, commenting in a press release, “With all of the fighting in DC over funding issues, you’d hope this opportunity to generate billions in economic activity and new government revenues will get serious consideration, not to mention the many new jobs that would be created.”

Waxman added, “It’s shocking that Congress has decided to leave in place hypocritical laws that allow some forms of online gambling activity, such as betting on horse racing, but prohibits others, like poker and bingo. You’d be hard-pressed to find another industry pleading for a chance to offer online the same activities permissible offline and be taxed fairly to do so.”

McDermott has introduced legislation to tax internet gambling before, including a bill in 2008 that would have directed $40 billion over 10 years to job training for those in the declining sectors of the economy and educational assistance for foster care youth. However, there has been little movement on any Federal bill since the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act outlawed financial transactions for “unlawful internet gambling” in 2006.

At the core of McDermott’s legislation is a deposit tax. Other potential bills have floated taxes based on gross gaming revenue and withdrawals, but the Initiative prefers a skim of deposits. As a press release outlined, “A deposit tax is paid up-front, creates transparency, and readily supports revenue calculation and distribution across multiple jurisdictions based on a place of consumption methodology.” Operators would be responsible for paying the deposit tax.

Two Federal bills currently lie in wait. HR 2666, the Internet Poker Freedom Act, was introduced in July and is sponsored by Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX, pictured). The bill legalizes online poker only, whereas HR 2282, the Internet Gambling Act, also permits online casino games. Congressman Peter King (R-NY) introduced HR 2282 in June. There has been no movement on either bill.

In the meantime, Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey have launched intrastate online gaming. The former only allows poker and features two sites: Ultimate Poker(run by the parent company of UFC and Station Casinos) and WSOP.com (run by Caesars Interactive Entertainment). New Jersey will permit full-blown internet gambling, not just poker, starting with a soft launch period next week. Delaware, whose Lottery oversees the industry, is in the midst of a soft launch of its own.

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