In August, the first Mississippi casinos started offering sports betting. In August, $54,000 was collected by the state. The state collected $188,000 in revenue in November. Allen Godfrey is the executive director of the state Gaming Commission. He said that there are still some casinos in the state that do not offer sports betting. On their winnings from gambling games, including those from sports wagers, casinos pay a 12 per cent tax. This is 8 percent for the state and 4percent to the local governments. Kathy Waterbury, spokesperson for the Department of Revenue stated that individual gamblers are also responsible for paying taxes on winnings from casinos. Waterbury stated that a 3 percent non-refundable tax was withheld from casinos and remitted by the state for “winnings greater than $600” and where the odds of winning are greater then 300 to 1. These thresholds must be met before the winnings can be subject to income tax. “Any gaming losses incurred by the individual would also be included in the winnings.” This means that the individual gambler can file their winnings less any losses on their income tax returns. An August special session passed legislation to redirect the sports betting revenue away from casino winnings and to transport. The Legislature also passed a lottery, and the first $80million of the revenue was directed to the same transportation fund. After the Supreme Court’s May ruling that all other states, except Nevada, were prohibited from allowing sports gambling, Mississippi became the third state to allow sports betting. There have been many estimates of how much revenue the state will receive by allowing casinos bet on sporting events. Although the state has only received modest revenue from sports betting, overall casino revenue has increased for the fiscal year that began July 1. The state has received $55.7 million in overall casino winnings revenue through November. This is 5.5 percent more than the amount it collected the previous year. Officials attribute part of this increase to the increased number of people visiting casinos due to the sports betting allowance. According to the Legislative Budget Committee staff, total state revenue collection from July 1 to November was $2.14 billion. That’s 2.72 percent, or $56.6 million more than the amount collected in the same period last fiscal year. The tax on personal income (tax on retail sales) and tax on personal income (tax on personal income) are the two biggest sources of revenue. About 5 percent of total state general fund revenue comes from the casino tax collection. Legislative leaders hope that collections will remain steady in 2019, after years of slow revenue collection, which has resulted in double-digit budget cuts for many state agencies. Revenue collections have historically grown by about 3 percent per year.