Ohio Code 2915.101 – Distributing net profit from proceeds of sale of instant bingo
Except as otherwise provided by law, a charitable organization that conducts instant bingo or electronic instant bingo shall distribute the net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo as follows:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2915.101
- Bingo: means either of the following:
(1) A game with all of the following characteristics:
(a) The participants use bingo cards or sheets, including paper formats and electronic representation or image formats, that are divided into twenty-five spaces arranged in five horizontal and five vertical rows of spaces, with each space, except the central space, being designated by a combination of a letter and a number and with the central space being designated as a free space. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- charitable organization: means either of the following:
(1) An organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code;
(2) A volunteer rescue service organization, volunteer firefighter's organization, veteran's organization, fraternal organization, or sporting organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(c)(4), (c)(7), (c)(8), (c)(10), or (c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Electronic instant bingo: means a form of bingo that consists of an electronic or digital representation of instant bingo in which a participant wins a prize if the participant's electronic instant bingo ticket contains a combination of numbers or symbols that was designated in advance as a winning combination, and to which all of the following apply:
(a) Each deal has a predetermined, finite number of winning and losing tickets and a predetermined prize amount and deal structure, provided that there may be multiple winning combinations in each deal and multiple winning tickets. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Expenses: means the reasonable amount of gross profit actually expended for all of the following:
(1) The purchase or lease of bingo supplies;
(2) The annual license fee required under section 2915. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Fraternal organization: means any society, order, state headquarters, or association within this state, except a college or high school fraternity, that is not organized for profit, that is a branch, lodge, or chapter of a national or state organization, that exists exclusively for the common business or sodality of its members. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Instant bingo: means a form of bingo that shall use folded or banded tickets or paper cards with perforated break-open tabs, a face of which is covered or otherwise hidden from view to conceal a number, letter, or symbol, or set of numbers, letters, or symbols, some of which have been designated in advance as prize winners, and may also include games in which some winners are determined by the random selection of one or more bingo numbers by the use of a seal card or bingo blower. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Internal Revenue Code: means the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986" 100 Stat. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Net profit: means gross profit minus expenses. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo: means gross profit minus the ordinary, necessary, and reasonable expense expended for the purchase of bingo supplies for the purpose of conducting instant bingo or electronic instant bingo, and, in the case of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo conducted by a veteran's, fraternal, or sporting organization, minus the payment by that organization of real property taxes and assessments levied on a premises on which instant bingo or electronic instant bingo is conducted. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- Sporting organization: means a hunting, fishing, or trapping organization, other than a college or high school fraternity or sorority, that is not organized for profit, that is affiliated with a state or national sporting organization, including but not limited to, the league of Ohio sportsmen, and that has been in continuous existence in this state for a period of three years. See Ohio Code 2915.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(A)(1) If a veteran’s organization, a fraternal organization, or a sporting organization conducted the instant bingo or electronic instant bingo, the organization shall distribute the net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo, as follows:
(a) For the first two hundred fifty thousand dollars, or a greater amount prescribed by the attorney general to adjust for changes in prices as measured by the consumer price index as defined in section 325.18 of the Revised Code and other factors affecting the organization’s expenses, as defined in division (GG) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code, or less of net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo generated in a calendar year:
(i) At least twenty-five per cent shall be distributed to an organization described in division (V)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code or to a department or agency of the federal government, the state, or any political subdivision.
(ii) Not more than seventy-five per cent may be deducted and retained by the organization for reimbursement of or for the organization’s expenses, as defined in division (GG) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code, in conducting the instant bingo or electronic instant bingo game.
(b) For any net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo of more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars or an adjusted amount generated in a calendar year:
(i) A minimum of fifty per cent shall be distributed to an organization described in division (V)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code or to a department or agency of the federal government, the state, or any political subdivision.
(ii) Five per cent may be distributed for the organization’s own charitable purposes or to a community action agency.
(iii) Forty-five per cent may be deducted and retained by the organization for reimbursement of or for the organization’s expenses, as defined in division (GG) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code, in conducting the instant bingo or electronic instant bingo game.
(2) If a veteran’s organization, a fraternal organization, or a sporting organization does not distribute the full percentages specified in divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section for the purposes specified in those divisions, the organization shall distribute the balance of the net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo not distributed or retained for those purposes to an organization described in division (V)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) If a charitable organization other than a veteran’s organization, a fraternal organization, or a sporting organization conducted the instant bingo or electronic instant bingo, the organization shall distribute one hundred per cent of the net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo to an organization described in division (V)(1) of section 2915.01 of the Revised Code or to a department or agency of the federal government, the state, or any political subdivision.
(C) Nothing in this section prohibits a veteran’s organization, a fraternal organization, or a sporting organization from distributing any net profit from the proceeds of the sale of instant bingo or electronic instant bingo to an organization that is described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code when the organization that is described in subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is one that makes donations to other organizations and permits donors to advise or direct such donations so long as the donations comply with requirements established in or pursuant to subsection 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Last updated August 4, 2021 at 4:35 PM