(The Center Square) — A Tennessee lawmaker is proposing a 5% tax on sales of lottery tickets.
House Bill 51 by Rep. Kelly Keisling, R-Byrdtown, would require counties to collect the tax and remit it to the state.
The tax only applies to ticket sales and “shares,” which are defined as “intangible evidence of participation in a lottery game,” according to the bill.
Half of the proceeds would distributed the same as property taxes for local school systems, and the other distribution would be determined by where the sale occurred, according to the Tennessee Code referred to in the bill.
The state’s more than 5,000 retailers have collected more than $30.7 Billion in gross ticket revenues since the lottery began, according to information from the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation.
Attempts to reach Keisling were unsuccessful.
The bill only applies to lottery ticket sales. Tennessee does not impose an income tax and does not tax lottery winnings.
Proceeds from the lottery fund educational programs, including the Tennessee Promise scholarship. The scholarship covers expenses not paid for with other financial aid for up to five semesters at a community college or four-year institution.
More than $100 million was transferred into the Lottery for Education Account for fiscal year 2024, lottery officials said. The state lottery commission began in June 2003 and has collected more than $7.6 billion.
In addition to the more than $30.7 billion in ticket sales since the lottery began, players have won more than $20.8 billion, and retailers have received more than $2 billion in commissions, according to the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation.