Arkansas Casinos’ Tax Contributions Increased in 2025

2025 seems to have been a period of growth for Arkansas’s casino properties, as all three of them generated higher revenues than they did in the prior year. As a result, the state taxes generated by the casinos also increased.

A Strong Year for Arkansas’ Casinos

According to official data from the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), the state’s three casinos reported a total of $116 million in tax revenue for 2025, marking a 5.4% increase from 2024. This favorable metric reflected increases across the board.

For context, Southland Casino contributed $58.4 million of the total tax revenue in the state. The West Memphis property’s tax revenue suggests an increase of 1.9% year-on-year. Further data shows that March was the month in which the property paid the highest monthly tax at $6.3 million. On the contrary, September saw the property’s tax revenue decline to $11.4 million.

In the meantime, Saracen Casino reached $30.4 million in tax revenue for the year. This figure translates to an increase of $12.7% year-on-year – the highest increase among Arkansas’ three properties. The casino, which is located in Pine Bluff, experienced its best tax revenue month in May when it recorded $3.9 million in tax revenue. September, which was the weakest month for Southland Casino, was the weakest month for Saracen too, as it recorded tax revenue of only $2 million.

Finally, Oaklawn, a mixed-purpose casino and horse racing venue, delivered tax revenue of $27.2 million for the year, up 5.5%. The casino’s strongest tax revenue month was May ($3.2 million), with February being the weakest ($1.9 million).

Further data from the DFA confirmed that the higher tax revenue reflected a strong year for the local casinos. The sports betting figures show that wagering handle increased by almost $100 million to $655 million.

Roughly Half of the Tax Revenue Goes to the General Revenue Fund

For context, casinos in Arkansas are usually taxed at 13% of their revenue. However, if a casino exceeds $150 million in revenue within the calendar year, its revenue is taxed at 20% for the rest of the year.

Per the local law, 55% of all casino taxes fuel the state’s general revenue fund. Another 17.5% is submitted to the Arkansas Racing Commission, while 8% supports the casino’s local county. The remaining 19.5% go to the city in which the casino is based.

In other news, the local who won $1.82 billion from Powerball just came forward to claim their prize. While the player chose to remain anonymous, the local lottery confirmed that the winner had heeded the advice to onboard the services of a financial consultant.