Ontario Could Become Next Location For Legal Online Gambling

Gambling News - February 27th, 2010 - Written By Glen

Though Loto-Quebec has has brought about legal online gambling, another province may be moving behind them. Ontario is now considering the benefits of online gambling, and the province may be the next to incorporate online gambling into their legislation.

New methods and sources of tax revenue have been at the height of many jurisdiction's agendas, not the least of which is the United States. Ontario's Premier Dalton McGuinty has realized the profitability of online gambling and considers the industry "something we can't avoid."

With the great number of illegal gambling sites, legislators of hoping to take over their markets. By effectively cannibalizing these illegal gambling operations by launching portals of their own, the province of Ontario aims to increase tax revenue significantly.

The United States federal government has launched another initiative to legalize online gambling. In order to overturn the UIGEA, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Judd Gregg (R-NH) have announced the Bipartisan Tax Fairness and Simplification Act of 2010, which includes provisions that would lift the ban on online gambling, thus taxing and regulating the online gambling scene in the United States.

While some of the legal online gambling sites do operate both within Canada and the United States without being regulated, no taxes are currently being collected directly from the hosts of the gambling.