State tax considerations for Super Bowl LIX bettors

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State tax considerations for Super Bowl LIX bettors

Saturday, February 08, 2025

Tomorrow night, we’ll have a repeat Super Bowl winner. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles have hoisted the NFL’s Lombardi Trophy before.

As I type late Saturday afternoon, sportsbooks have the defending champion Chiefs as 1.5-point favorites to win their third consecutive professional U.S. football title.

The bets on the game’s outcome, as well as the many possible prop bets mentioned in my Friday post, have gotten more attention as more states have allowed wagering within their borders since the gave them the go-ahead in 2018.

So, for this Saturday Shout Out, I’m getting ready for tomorrow's game by shouting a lot about items that focus on state taxes and gambling income.

Since the Super Bowl LIX will be in New Orleans, let’s start in the south, specifically North Carolina.

This will be the first Super Bowl on which Tar Heel residents can legally bet. How that’s affecting residents of Raleigh is examined in Gilat Melamed’s piece North Carolinians able to bet on the Super Bowl for the first time for WNCN/CBS17, this weekend’s first Shout Out.

One estimate is that North Carolinians will bet $59 million on the Super Bowl. Their winnings should help bulk up the state’s treasury even more. “Since launching in March 2024, sports betting has generated an estimated $105 million in tax revenue for the state,” according to Melamed.

Soon, those wagering N.C. taxpayers may get a state tax break.

That possibility is the second Shout Out to Can you deduct gambling losses on taxes in NC? Lawmakers file bill to allow it. The North Carolina House legislation would conform the state’s tax policy to that of the federal government and most states that allow sports betting, reports Brian Murphy for WRAL News.

We move to the Midwest for the third Shout Out, where Jill R. Dorson writes for iGB (iGaming Business) that the Ohio governor wants to double sports betting tax…again. Republican Gov. Mike DeWine wants to raise the legal sports betting tax on operators to 40 percent.

If that happens, writes Dorson, “it would make Ohio the second-most expensive competitive market for wagering operators. New York has the highest tax rate at 51%.”

Our fourth Shout Out takes a nationwide look at gambling revenue.

“The US sports betting industry is in its seventh year of regulated operations outside of Nevada, and proceeds are pouring in. Operators have so far combined to generate close to $40 billion of lifetime gross revenue from more than $450 billion in total handle,” writes Eric Ramsey in the Feb. 3 US Sports Betting Revenue & Handle for LSR (Legal Sports Report). The state breakouts also show a total of more than $7.4 billion in tax revenue from gambling.

And finally, this weekend’s fifth Shout Out looks at one winner that’s already been decided.

Super Bowl’s $1.4 billion in bets arrive to lift gambling stocks, writes Peyton Forte for BNN Bloomberg. But will the Super Bowl boost be enough to provide longer-term help to the struggling industry, asks Forte, who notes that shares of gambling companies have plunged from their post-pandemic heights.

And with that, I leave you to resume planning your Super Bowl party. And bets.

You also might find these items of interest:

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Today's Tax Tip

10 too-often overlooked tax breaks — Some filers leave tax savings on the table by missing out on tax breaks. Don’t be one of them. Here are 10 tax deductions and credits, including some that don't require itemizing, that many taxpayers overlook every filing season. (March 12, 2025)
The 2025 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. Remember, tax tasks and tips don't stop after you file your annual return!

All About Kay

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Kay Bell — Native Texan
(the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.
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Tax Year 2025 Countdown

Happy New Tax Year! Are you ready to file your 2024 tax return? I know, too early to ask. But Tax Day 2025 will be here before we realize it. The Internal Revenue Service deadline to file and pay any tax we owe is the regular April 15 date this year. It’s also Tax Day for most of the states that collect income taxes from their residents, which is most of the states! If that seems too far away right now, don’t worry. As is the case every tax season, the ol' blog’s monthly tips and reminders a little farther down this column should help all of us meet our state and federal responsibilities. Procrastinators also will want to keep an eye on the countdown clock just below. It tracks how much time we have until April's Tax Day, just in case we put off our annual tax task until the absolutely final hours and decide we need to instead get an extension request into the Internal Revenue Service by that date.
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

☘️ ⏰ 🦁

Marching toward
Tax Day

🐑 ⏰ ☘️

March's arrival means that Tax Day is just six weeks away. And we also lose an hour of tax prep to Daylight Saving Time! So let's not waste any more precious time and, ahem, march right into the March tax tasks.

via GIPHY
March 1: March is the last full month of the tax-filing season, so that's a good reason to come at our taxes in the month's proverbial "in like a lion" mode. The first thing to attack like the feline king is the gathering of all the tax statements you'll need to fill out your 2024 return. This includes the paper ones that you stuck in a drawer when they arrived last month. Find them now, as well as download those that are delivered that way.

March 5: Official tax statements aren't the only things you'll need to help you file. Other documents have information that's relevant to your tax return. So are the answers to some basic life questions. This tax checklist can help guide you as you work on your return. And don't forget about your previous tax return. That prior tax year filing is a good template, especially if your tax life hasn't changed that much.

March 9: How are you feeling today? If you're like me, a bit tired after losing an hour of sleep earlier this morning when we shifted to Daylight Saving Time.

I know you have plenty of fun things to spend the added late-day natural daylight on, but you might want to also work on your tax returns. Yes, plural. In addition to federal returns, most Americans live in states, or the District of Columbia, that also collect personal income tax. The good news is that tax software usually includes state filing, too. If you need to file state taxes separately, most states offer free online state tax filing options.

March 10: If your job is as a server at a restaurant or at any other establishment where gratuities from customers are part of your compensation, I hope you get all the tips you deserve for doing your job well. Remember, though, that those tips are taxable income.

Whether you're dining at your favorite eatery or getting food, groceries and/or prepared meals, delivered to your home, if a tip isn't included on your restaurant or delivery bill, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.

And if you got at least $20 in gratuities in February for your extraordinary services as a food server or hair stylist or parking valet or whatever job where tipping is common, you must report that amount by today. Use Form 4070 to let your employer know the total tips you took in last month.

March 17: Erin Go Bragh and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

via GIPHY
Enjoy this day, but don't trust lucky charms to get you through tax filing season. Double check your 1040 to ensure you haven't overlooked any tax breaks or made any common filing mistakes.

March 20: Spring has sprung!

That means it's time for spring cleaning. Your gifts won't help with your current tax return, but they could pay off next year as charitable donation deductions if you itemize.

March 25: If you have a tax-deferred retirement account, such as a traditional IRA or workplace regular 401(k), and are a septuagenarian, you could be facing a required minimum distribution (RMD) due date in just more than a week. If you turned 73 last year and didn't take your initial RMD by Dec. 31, you must do so by April 1. Note that your RMD deferment last year means you'll face another RMD at the end of this year, so start planning now on how you're going to deal with the 2025 taxes on two mandatory withdrawal amounts.

March 31: This is it. March is over, which for taxes means you best shed your out like a lamb attitude and get to work on your Form 1040. The IRS recommends we file electronically, which will speed up processing of returns and issuance of any refunds. And millions of taxpayers can do their taxes and e-file for free.

First, there’s the IRS-Free File Alliance partnership, which again offers no-cost online tax preparation and electronic filing to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000 or less, regardless of filing status at the official IRS.gov Free File website. The same eight software companies that participated last year are back for the 2025 filing season.

If your income is too high, you still can file for free by using Free File's Fillable Forms option.
You also might want to check out IRS Direct File, the IRS’ own free online tax prep and e-filing program if you live in one of the 25 states where the free online tax preparation and e-filing is offered. In addition, Direct File offers more options that apply to more taxpayers’ situations this year.

Small Business Tax Calendar: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. The IRS is updating the online version. Until that link is operational, you can get the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Pub. 509.

State Tax Help

Don't forget your state taxes!
Forty-two states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the eight states without any income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Tax Forms 2025 page.

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These five Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
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…and so it continues into 2023
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It is 2025 and, yes, it's still an issue
You can find medical coronavirus resource links in the next section.

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Tell it to the Hill

While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — Congress and the White House for our tax laws. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, you need to let your federal legislators and the White House occupant know of your concerns. You can find out who in Washington, D.C., to contact (and how), as well as get information on your local lawmakers for matters, tax or otherwise, closer to home, at USA Gov.

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