North Carolina sportsbooks launched in 2024 with an 18% tax rate. Lawmakers now plan to raise that number to 23%, placing the state above several major online betting markets.
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North Carolina lawmakers did not go as high as some Senate proposals, but operators still face a higher bill.
Sen. Jim Burgin confirmed that sportsbooks will pay 23% of revenue to the state, according to WRAL reporter Brian Murphy. The rate remains part of wider budget talks ahead of the July 1 fiscal year deadline, although lawmakers have agreed on the sports betting tax number.
The change adds five percentage points to the tax rate used since mobile sports betting went live in March 2024. North Carolina started with an 18% levy, a level that kept the market below many higher-tax states.
Now, the state will jump ahead of New Jersey at 19.75%, Massachusetts at 20%, and Ohio at 20%. At the same time, it will stay well below Pennsylvania at 36% and Illinois, where the progressive rate starts at 20% and reaches 40%.
The final number ends a long debate between lawmakers who wanted more tax revenue and operators who warned against aggressive changes.
Burgin had pushed for a 50% rate, which would have placed North Carolina near the top of the U.S. sports betting tax table. New York, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island take 51% of operator revenue, while Delaware sits at 50%.
A smaller increase became more likely earlier in June, when legislators reportedly agreed to a range between 20% and 30%. The 23% rate now gives the state extra revenue without matching the most expensive markets for sportsbook operators.
The Senate also tried to raise the mobile sportsbook tax rate to 36% during budget talks last summer. The House declined to change the structure then, leaving the original 18% rate in place.
House Speaker Destin Hall framed the debate as a comparison with other states rather than a full reset of the North Carolina sports betting market.
“I think, on our side of the building, it’s more so looking at, ‘How do we line up with other states?’ We want to be on the average of what other states are doing on a lot of these rates,” Hall told WRAL earlier this month. “A lot of the ideas are out there. I think we’re somewhat hesitant to tweak too much a program that’s worked pretty well for the state, all things considered.”
For licensed sportsbooks, the new tax rate changes the math but not the market structure. North Carolina keeps a single flat rate, rather than copying Illinois with a progressive model or joining New York and Delaware near the 50% range.