Vermont Latest To Evaluate Per-Bet Tax, Prohibition of Sports Event Contracts

• Vermont legislators evaluating a bill to prohibit sports event contracts and add a per-bet tax
• The bill seeks to prohibit prediction market securities or commodities contingent on the outcome of events related to sports
• Legislation also seeks to add a 50-cent charger per sports bet made in the state

Lawmakers are evaluating a bill that would overhaul the Vermont online sports betting tax framework and prohibit certain prediction market contracts in the Green Mountain State.

Rep. Thomas Stevens (D-Washington-Chittenden) introduced H. 913, a bill to prohibit offering prediction market securities or commodities that are contingent on the outcome of events related to sports and other controversial events.

Additionally, the bill would place a 50-cent fee on every single online sports bet placed in the state.

New Per-Bet Tax Floated

The bill, co-sponsored by 12 other representatives, aims to prohibit sports event contracts (and those related to death or politics) while also overhauling the state’s sports betting tax framework. Vermont is the second state to consider a bill to prohibit sports event contracts, as Hawaii is currently evaluating a bill to do the same.

Stevens’ bill will prohibit the follow types of prediction market contracts:

“Criminal prohibition of wagering activities includes offering prediction market securities or commodities that are contingent on the outcome of events related to sports, contests, natural persons, politics and campaigns, disasters, war, all-hazards, or death.”

In addition to prohibiting sports event contracts, the bill also seeks to institute a 50-cent per bet tax on every bet placed through licensed Vermont sports betting operators. The legislation sets a higher starting floor for a per-bet charge than Illinois, which currently taxes operators 25-cents per bet for the first 20 million bets it process, and then a 50-cent charge for every bet taken thereafter.

The Illinois per-bet fee went into effect on July 1, 2025, and resulted in more than $5.2 million in revenue during its first month of operation.

Stevens is not a supporter of Vermont sports betting. Last year, he and two-cosponsors introduced H.133, a bill to repeal Vermont sports betting and the state lottery.

Under the bill, the legislation would have repealed all statutes that authorized the Vermont state lottery and sports betting program. It never received a hearing in the House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee.

Other States Considering Per-Bet Taxes

Vermont is not the only state potentially considering a per-bet tax. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) recently proposed an increase to Michigan’s iGaming tax rate and a new per-bet sports betting charge in her introduced 2027 fiscal year state budget.

The increased iGaming tax rate and new per-bet charges are projected to raise nearly $200 million in additional revenues to protect access to Medicaid coverage, according to her budget message.

Gov. Whitmer’s proposal includes several specific changes to the state’s iGaming tax rate, sports betting framework, and online gaming tax structure.

Her budget proposal introduces an increased iGaming tax rate for licensed operators that goes into effect after a company earns more than $185 million in adjusted gross revenue in a year. For revenues above this threshold, the tax rate increased by 8 percentage points, bringing the total up to 36%. Anything less than $185 million will be taxed at the original rate of 28%.

As for sports betting, her proposal introduces a new per-bet charge for each placed bet, mirroring a similar charge structure Illinois implemented for its license-holders this year. A new 25-cent per-bet tax would be placed on operator’s first 20 million annual bets. The tax would increase to 50-cents for each bet placed after the first 20 million.