About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 Alicia Hansen, Gambling with Tax Policy: States' Growing Reliance on Lottery Tax Revenue 1 (2007)

handle is hein.taxfoundation/bpfexz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: July 2007, Number 54 r cia Hansen LrodutinWhen subjected to the tests of sound tax policy, t Americans don't think of lotteries in it fails: LS of tax policy. The lottery conjures up es of smiling Powerball winners displaying * Extensive evidence shows lotteries are million checks for the TV camera or per- regressive, meaning the poor shoulder a stories of lottery players suffering financial disproportionate share of the tax burden. or gmblng ddicion Bu in etwen The lottery is not economically neutral: it tw o extrem es is the less glam orous but d s o t o s m rs e d n y a p y n Bly important issue of the lottery's effect on an unusually high tax rate to a particular tax policy. product. In fiscal year 2005, total consumer spend- )n lotteries surpassed $50 billion, and the * It is a hidden tax, lacking transparency. ige merian pent$17 plaingthe ot-* Lotteries unnecessarily complicate the tax Over $15 billion of this revenue was trans-sytm d to state coffers. The significant revenue .g potential of state lotteries raises serious * Lottery revenues do not always benefit the )olicy concerns. Although no government programs for which they are earmarked, cy is willing to call the lottery a tax, it is and voters may feel deceived when they -theless a source of implicit tax revenue. approve lotteries for education only to Lotteries are fundamentally different from find that legislators shuffle funds and their r gambling in one important way: they are states' public education systems do not ided by the state, and only by the state. benefit significantly. 'efore, they raisepolir-1 n1cyetio~ns entirely* inll, heus1o st-opeatdgbIng raefo ise f oaiyan ditin oople oras a rvnepoedei lottry s mre tan cotrovrsil wy ou poicyquesion abut gvermen idaltlemnvtosaecofr:iti axddnrhlr

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most