The Bingo Act of 1996 is important because of the ways it changed and updated traditional bingo laws.

First of all a tax on bingo operators was instituted. This means that today any bingo operator must pay a tax to the Department of Revenue before they can obtain bingo cards. Once the tax is paid the Department of Revenue authorizes a qualified distributor to sell cards to the operator. The cards can be bought in advance if the tax is paid by certified check within 15 days of the purchase of the cards. The Department of Revenue collects 16.5 percent per dollar face value of the bingo cards. Certain nonprofits are excluded from this tax.

It is also a law that at least 50 percent of the proceeds from the sale of bingo cards must be returned to the players in the form of prizes. This means that a bingo operator may collect no more than twice the prize money for one session in that session. Any extra is subject to an “extra portion” tax.

Also according to this law bingo operations are assigned classes. The class an organization receives determines how much it must charge for admission. This ranges from no entrance fee to an $18 entrance fee. Bingo can only take place between the hours of 1 p.m. and 1 a.m.

The law states that no more than one nonprofit can sponsor bingo games in a certain building. It also prohibits selling, sharing or transferring bingo cards between bingo organizations, manufacturers or distributors.

Distributors and manufacturers of bingo cards must have a license. The cost of a license for a distributor will be $2,000 per year. A manufacturer’s license costs $5,000 per year. Both distributors and manufacturers have to file a quarterly report with the Department of Revenue. Manufacturers, distributors and promoters can only perform one of the three functions. For example, a manufacturer of bingo cards cannot also distribute them.

If a bingo organization is going to change its location it must notify the Department of Revenue 30 days prior to the move.