The African country of Kenya is planning to bring back a 20% tax on betting and gaming stakes which led to several big names in the industry leaving its market in 2019.
Kenya’s Treasury announced that it would increase the tax from 7.5% to 20%. The announcement was made in this year’s Finance Bill.
In addition to taxing betting and gaming stakes, Kenya will also tax prize competitions and lotteries.
The government will most likely impose a 15% tax on gambling ads.
Several years ago, companies such as Sportspesa and Betin exited the Kenyan betting market due to the 20% stake tax, which literally doubled following a government decision.
However, a review of the decision showed that the tax increase actually led to a lower tax revenue for the government because so many tax-paying companies had exited the market.
As a result, President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law a new decision that the tax would be scrapped altogether.
But Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani had other ideas and worked hard to bring the tax back. The government Finance Committee managed to keep the tax rate to 7.5%, although the latest Finance Bill wants to increase it to 20% once more.
The future of Sportesa’s presence in Kenya is now in question once more. The group returned in 2020 to resume operations, but may now be forced to leave once more.
