A licensed authorized organization or unit must collect a 5% fee on cash bingo prizes over $5 and generally remit the fee to the commission, with special quarter-by-quarter sharing rules for certain counties and municipalities.
Sec. 2001.502. PRIZE FEE. (a) A licensed authorized organization or unit as defined by Section 2001.431 shall: (1) collect from a person who wins a cash bingo prize of more than $5 a fee in the amount of five percent of the amount of the prize; and (2) except as otherwise provided by this section, remit to the commission the amount of the fee collected under Subdivision (1). (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), each quarter, a licensed authorized organization or unit that collects a prize fee under Subsection (a) for a bingo game conducted in a county or municipality that was entitled to receive a portion of a bingo prize fee as of January 1, 2019, shall remit 50 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee to the commission and shall remit or deposit the remainder of the amount collected as the prize fee as follows: (1) if the county in which the bingo game is conducted voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee and the location at which the bingo game is conducted: (A) is not within the boundaries of a municipality, remit 50 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee to the county; or (B) is within the boundaries of a municipality that: (i) voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee, remit 50 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee in equal shares to the county and municipality; or (ii) did not vote before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee, remit 25 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee to the county and deposit the remaining amount in the manner described by Subdivision (3); (2) if the county in which the bingo game is conducted did not vote before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee and the location at which the bingo game is conducted is within the boundaries of a municipality that voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee: (A) remit 25 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee to the municipality; and (B) deposit the remaining amount in the manner described by Subdivision (3); and (3) if neither the county or municipality in which the bingo game is conducted voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee, deposit the remainder of the amount collected as the prize fee in the general charitable fund of the organization or on a pro rata basis to the general funds of the organizations comprising the unit, as applicable, to be used for the charitable purposes of the organization or organizations. (c) The governing body of a county or municipality that voted to impose a prize fee under Subsection (b) may at any time vote to discontinue the imposition of the fee. If a county or municipality votes on or after November 1, 2019, to discontinue the fee, the fees to which the county or municipality, as applicable, was entitled before the vote shall be collected by the licensed authorized organization or unit as defined by Section 2001.431 and deposited as provided by Subsection (b)(3). (d) A fee collected under Subsection (a) does not apply to: (1) a merchandise prize awarded as a prize for winning a bingo game, including a bingo card, a pull-tab bingo ticket, a bingo dauber, or other bingo merchandise; or (2) the use of a card-minding device awarded as a prize for winning a bingo game. Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 636 (H.B. 1474), Sec. 37, eff. October 1, 2009. Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 860 (H.B. 2578), Sec. 8, eff. September 1, 2017. Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1051 (H.B. 914), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2019. Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1132 (S.B. 643), Sec. 13, eff. September 1, 2023.