From what I understand, online gambling is already illegal but impossible to enforce. What will happen when it becomes illegal for American banks and credit cards to transfer money to gambling websites? And also, do online betters report their earnings on their taxes? Has anyone who has made money with online gambling gone to prison for income tax evasion?
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First of all, the Senate is unlikely to pass a bill this year so it is unlikely that the bill passed by the house will become law. If they do not pass it before this Congress finishes it work, they have to start the process all over again with the new Congress.
Also, your assumption that online gambling is already illegal is partly true and partly false. The Department of Justice has been fueling a campaign of misinformation over the last few years. Sports betting is in fact illegal, that is true. It was covered by the 1961 wire act. Blackjack, poker, slots, bingo, etc. are a different story. A federal court ruled in 2002 that when the wire act was created there is no way that it could have been intended to cover the internet. They felt that no one in 1961 could have conceived the notion of playing blackjack either over a phone line or some other wire device. They did believe that the law did cover the use of phone lines for sports wagering though, as that was common practice at the time.
The online gambling sites will most likely find some way around any attempt to cut off their banking options. There have been attempts to curtail the use of credit cards in the past and the industry has adapted.
As for taxes, all online betters with wins should report those wins on their taxes. While I do not know of any case of player going to prison for tax evasion, that does not change the fact that the USA demands that citizens pay taxes on their entire worldwide income.
Probably what will happen is the feds will make one or two high-profile busts, and hope everyone else falls in line.
Yesterday, an online casino CEO was flying from London to Costa Rica, but had to change planes at DFW. He was arrested in the Dallas airport.
But there are already off-shore accounts, such as Neteller (a British company), that you can route money to for completely legit reasons. Then the money can go from Neteller to the casino without breaking any laws.
Personally, I can’t understand why the feds don’t try to regulate (and tax) it rather than try to ban it.
It is not at this time illegal in the US, that is why they are trying to pass a new law. Nice of them to ignore what the people want.
Here is an a site with all the info you are looking for. It will enlighten you.
Some excellent answers already. This bill was a nonsense piece of political crap that has no place in this day and age. The bill even seeks to force ISPs to block gambling links, just like they do in China. This bill is totally unworkable and was passed by a bunch of old retarded idiots that barely have a working grasp of the Internet. I read a very good article about it Card Player magazine. Their take is that the bill, if passed, will be considered unworkable and will never be properly enforced.
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
