The new Virginia state budget, which will go into effect on July 1, closes a loophole that allowed sports betting operators to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes over the first year and a half of legal wagering in the state.

The issue was raised in a front-page story in The Times-Dispatch on May 2, which showed that sports betting companies were allowed to deduct certain promotional expenses from their pre-tax revenues. Among those expenses are “free bets” offered to players to entice them to sign up or continue gambling.

Those freebies ultimately negated as much as 43.7% of the revenue Virginia’s government could tax, or a potential $26.7 million in collected tax revenue.