While the state of Nevada is already in the process of reopening all its gambling venues, New Jersey was more cautious about it, as it was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The casinos in Atlantic City aren’t operating, and they requested some help from the state.
That’s why the Senate of the New Jersey State passed a legislative piece recently that granted certain tax breaks to casinos that had to shut down their operations due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The Press of Atlantic City released a report on Monday, stating that a 40-member body also allowed the casinos in the state to apply for loans that will have no interest. This is actually allowed instead of having to pay taxes to the city and the county during the coronavirus shutdown.
The news piece also stated that the proposals for tax breaks and interest-free loans were discussed last month, and their goal was to help casinos in New Jersey.
These casinos are widely regarded as the largest tax generators in the state, so the state needs the venues to recover as quickly as possible once they reopen their doors to visitors.
If the proposal is ratified, that could result in a $93 million annual reduction for the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
The Diminution of Duty
The legislative piece, which is named S2400, refers to the tax amount that the casinos in Atlantic City must pay to be reduced for an entire year after casinos open their doors to visitors once again. Moreover, the measure also aims to eliminate the fees for hotel rooms until the end of 2020.
Venues in New Jersey will also be allowed to deduct provisional credits and coupons for gaming from their respective taxable GGRs.
The person who introduced this proposal to the Senate of New Jersey is a Democrat Senator named Steve Sweeney. However, he was joined by Republican Senator Chris Brown. The two of them also asked for $100 million in federal cash to help small businesses in the state.
Brown stated that his primary concerns were families that were left unemployed at the start of the coronavirus crisis. According to him, the unemployment system in the country is “broken,” and such families are left on their own.
Moreover, Brown added that he and Steve Sweeney were “working in a bipartisan manner” as they wanted to save 27,000 jobs in the casino industry while also assisting small businesses operating in Atlantic County so that everyone could get back to work after the pandemic.
The casinos in New Jersey have been closed for more than three months now. Their official closing date was March 16, and all eyes are not set at Governor Phil Murphy, who must decide on the official date of reopening.
Many people in New Jersey hope that casinos in Atlantic City could start working as early as the start of July, but that’s just guessing. Nothing is certain until the official announcement by Gov. Murphy is made.
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