The Bingo-Raffle division would like to send a huge THANK YOU to our licensees for hanging in there with us and working through the issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  It has been a very trying and hard time for everyone, and we appreciate your understanding and working with us through these unusual times.  Here is to a better year in 2021!

Estimated Year End Reporting

What can you say about the year 2020? It was definitely challenging and impactful! We can only estimate the toll the Coronavirus took on all of our licensees and are grateful for all you have done to find ways to weather the storm. The graph below shows the effect of the shutdowns on all bingo and pull-tab licensees and the result on their overall revenue. During a very challenging year, raffles emerged as the silver-lining to a year fraught with closures – and subsequent cancellation of in-person events. Raffles, being easier to conduct (social distancing, etc.) were able to increase revenue by almost 1.5 million dollars, as well as realizing an increase of online sales by a very impressive 63%.

The bingo occasions include all games, bingo, progressive bingo, pull tabs, progressive pull tabs. The graph below is using estimated numbers for 2020 as the 4^th quarter report deadline is January 31, 2021.

Reminder: Mandatory Online Filing of Manufacturer, Supplier and Agent Licenses

Since 2019, all Manufacturer, Supplier and Agent license applications have been required to be submitted electronically. There are training guides available on our website as follows:

• here for Manufacturers,
• here for Suppliers,
• here for Manufacturer Agent, and
• here for Supplier Agent

These licenses can be renewed any time after February 1 for the 2021 license year (Manufacturer and Supplier licensee filings must also have submitted their 1st quarter reports before renewals will become available). If you have any questions or concerns regarding accessing the system, please contact Shannon Bee at 303 894 2200 x 6406. New Manufacturer, Supplier and Agent applicants can also access the system for the initial submission of the application and creation of your online account here.

Why Can't I File an Electronic Quarterly Report?

If your organization is trying to file your quarterly report electronically, but do not see one “available” for filing, the following may have occurred:

1. Previous quarter is still open. You cannot file your next quarter report if the previous quarter is still open. If your prior filing shows “reject”, you will need to resubmit the filing with the corrected information. We will need to approve this correction BEFORE your next quarter report will become available. If your filing has been rejected and resubmitted, your organization will receive a verification from our office, if and when the filing is approved. This will notify you that the next report is now available. Please be diligent and be sure your report has been approved by our office to mitigate timing issues and avoid possible late filings, which may cause fines to be instituted against your organization.
2. Rejected quarter is still outstanding/open. If a rejected filing remains open, even if you file the next quarter by paper, our office will not be able to enter the paper report until the prior quarter has been re-filed and accepted electronically. If the rejected filing has not been accepted by the deadline of the next due quarterly, the organization will still receive a fine for a late filing as our office cannot override the rejected status of your prior filing.
3. Organization is not currently licensed. If you do not see a quarterly available, or in a rejected status, it would mean your organization is not currently licensed to conduct games, and therefore, would not owe any quarterly (as you should not be conducting activity without a license). If you know your organization is currently licensed, but do not see any available or rejected status quarterlies, contact our office at 303 894 2200 and ask for assistance.

E-Filing a Bingo-Raffle License Renewal

Please remember, if you wish to continue to conduct charitable games of chance in 2021, you will need to renew your Bingo-Raffle license for 2021 before starting or continuing any games into 2021. All 2020 Bingo-Raffle licenses expired December 31, 2020. The Secretary of State's office encourages groups to file online. If renewing online, the licensee can access their online account and use the “renew” link on their account’s summary page. Please do not create a new account as these filings will need to be rejected and resubmitted through your already existing account.

When filing online, the system will only accept credit or debit cards; we do not have ACH or the ability to directly transfer funds from your accounts. The card, however, does not have to be linked directly to the bingo-raffle account. A personal card could be used (we do not retain any card information once the submission is made to our office), and then be reimbursed from the bingo-raffle account (we will need adequate descriptions on the schedule A that the reimbursement was for a “loan” to repay the person using their personal card for this payment). Also, the group has the option of obtaining a prepaid card where it can be loaded with the appropriate amount to cover the payment.

Games Manager Training

Your organization must have at least one certified Games Manager in order to run charitable games. We recommend licensees maintain more than one Games Manager. To support this, we offer in-person and online Games Manager training courses.

Sign up for the online eLearning course on our website.

All live classes have currently been cancelled due to COVID 19. Please go to the this link for further updates on live classes.

Investigator Tips

Each quarter, we include a few tips from our Bingo/Raffle Investigators. They gather a lot of information in the field with areas where licensees have compliance challenges. By sharing this information, we hope that licensees can better serve their customers.

A MESSAGE FROM THE INVESTIGATORS:

We have received questions about withholding prize money from a progressive raffle from a person if they do not present their identification. The bottom line is you cannot.

There are provisions in the tax code to take out a backup withholding amount of 24% in the case that a player does not furnish their taxpayer identification number, (TIN), to the licensee. You can find that information in the IRS Publication 3079, Tax-Exempt Organizations and Gaming. There is a link to that publication on our website here. Rule 8.4.1(b)(5) states that “If the ticket purchaser selects the envelope containing the Jackpot Prize Card, the ticket purchaser wins the raffle prize amount…”. It does not provide for a house rule denying payment of a prize if the winner does not supply a TIN.

Likewise, a licensee cannot retain the jackpot prize at any time. If the jackpot prize has not been awarded, Rule 8.4.5 applies. Either the jackpot prize is: 1) Awarded; 2) Awarded to the first player whose ticket was drawn after it reached the jackpot limit; or 3) determination of a winner by drawing raffle tickets until a drawn winner selects the jackpot prize card. Rule 8.4.5(4) allows a licensee to award a jackpot in this same manner if the licensee has imposed a must-go limit less than the $15,000 limit.

You can access all bingo/raffle laws using our Bingo-Raffles Law Handbook. Please feel free to contact our office with any questions.