Woofun AI reports that North Carolina’s newly signed budget bill establishes a distinct regulatory framework for prediction markets and sports betting. Effective January 1, 2027, the state will levy a 6% tax on net transaction fee revenue generated by platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket, while explicitly waiving state licensing requirements to recognize the CFTC’s federal authority.

Concurrently, the sports betting tax rate will increase from 18% to 23%. This legislation positions North Carolina as the first state to validate CFTC-registered prediction markets without imposing local licensing mandates, diverging from Kentucky’s 14.25% consumption tax and Illinois’ integration of prediction markets into its sports betting framework, which faces ongoing litigation.