Atlantic City's top casino underpaid its online gambling taxes by $1.1M, regulators say

ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey -- New Jersey gambling regulators say Atlantic City's top-performing casino, the Borgata, underpaid some of its internet gambling taxes twice by taking almost $15 million more in credits than it was entitled to.

That led the casino to pay $1.1 million less in taxes than it should have.

The state Division of Gaming Enforcement said the casino was ordered to pay the full amount of taxes due, with penalties and interest totaling $1.3 million.

The money has already been paid, including a $75,000 civil penalty, the state said.

"The Division views this matter as serious," its acting director, Mary Jo Flaherty, wrote in an Aug. 15 letter to the Borgata. "The original violation was an understatement of gross revenue by almost $10 million. This second understatement of gross revenue was in an amount of over $4.5 million.

"The fact that this conduct was repeated less than 18 months after the Division warned an additional violation of this type could result in a civil penalty is also to be considered," she wrote.

The Borgata declined to comment Thursday; its parent company, MGM Resorts International, did not respond to requests for comment.

In March 2023, the Borgata wrongly included $9.8 million in bonuses including table games in deductions that are supposed to be only for slot games, resulting in a tax underpayment of $787,000. It was assessed nearly $88,000 in interest and nearly $40,000 in penalties.

In July 2024, a software upgrade by MGM resulted in deducting more credits than the amount of player bonuses that were actually awarded. That added $4.5 million in credits beyond what the casino was entitled to, and a $365,000 underpayment of taxes. It was assessed more than $15,000 in interest and over $18,000 in penalties for this violation.

The credits are designed to relieve the casinos from paying taxes on some free play given to customers once the bonuses reach a certain level. In New Jersey, the first $90 million in promotional credit is taxed as part of gross revenue, but once that threshold is passed, anything above it is not taxed.

Regulators said the company made software fixes to correct the problem.

For the first seven months of this year, the Borgata has won more than $771 million from gamblers, more than $300 million ahead of its closest competitor.