Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 41-7 - Jai Alai
Section 41-7-6. - Tax on betting and licensee’s commission.

§ 41-7-6. Tax on betting and licensee’s commission.
(a) The commission of a licensee on pari-mutuel pools and wagers shall be twenty and one-half percent (20½%) of the amount contributed thereto. After deducting the commission and the “breaks,” hereafter defined, a pari-mutuel pool shall be redistributed to the contributors. The licensee conducting events pursuant to this chapter shall pay a tax to the state of three percent (3%) of annual amounts contributed to mutuel pools up to eighteen million dollars ($18,000,000) of total handle. The Rhode Island tax shall increase one-half of one percent (.5%) for the next incremental increase of two million dollars ($2,000,000), and one-half of one percent (.5%) for each incremental increase of one million dollars ($1,000,000), thereafter, in the total annual pool up to a maximum of five percent (5%). The licensee shall pay a tax of one percent (1%) of the pool to the city of Newport, and the tax administrator/collector or equivalent for the city of Newport shall assess and collect the taxes imposed by this section with respect to the city of Newport under such rules and regulations as he or she may prescribe. All taxes hereby imposed shall be due and payable at the close of each day’s activities, and any tax not paid upon demand of the tax administrator/collector shall bear interest at the rate of six percent (6%) per annum for the time of the demand. Failure to pay any tax upon demand shall be cause for revocation of a license.
(b) Redistributions of funds otherwise distributable to the contributors to the pari-mutuel pools shall be a sum equal to the next lowest multiple of ten (10).
(c) No distribution of a pari-mutuel pool shall be made of the odd cents of any sum otherwise distributable, which odd cents shall be known as the “breaks.”
(d) The “breaks” shall be known as the difference between the amount contributed to a pari-mutuel pool and the total of the commission of the licensee and the sums actually redistributed to the contributors.
(e) No person or corporation shall directly or indirectly purchase pari-mutuel tickets or participate in the purchase of any part of a pari-mutuel pool for another for hire or for any gratuity and no person shall purchase any part of a pari-mutuel pool through another, wherein he or she gives or pays directly or indirectly the other person anything of value, and any person violating this section shall be fined the sum of five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation.
History of Section.P.L. 1973, ch. 48, § 1; P.L. 1983, ch. 210, § 1; P.L. 1991, ch. 24, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 16, § 2; P.L. 1994, ch. 362, § 1; P.L. 1994, ch. 412, § 1.

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