The government of Kenya is getting ready to tax punters 20% on their gambling winnings, which would apply to lottery, sportsbetting, and casino winnings.
The change comes as the government had put verbiage into the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, which would have betting operators hold 20% of winnings to pay off the government. This comes in addition to a 35% tax rate on operators, which is based on revenues. This has led many operators to leave the market, as they find the taxes too burdensome. It's likely that punters will follow suit, moving to unsafe offshore sites to get their action.
The government has justified the move stating that tax hikes were inspired by attempting to curtail gambling growth, especially by the country's youth.
Comments
Well, that's to say the least unfair!
People paying their taxes while receiving a salaries, going to the store or whatever other taxes they pay in Kenya but being taxed another 20% of your winnings while you staking the funds that already been taxed is just a cheat.
And rightly so, I would of do that if I was a Kenyan citizen too!
The local government would realize they will loose money from that decision instead of gaining "profits".
Yeah that's a tough pill to swallow. It's almost like giving up house edge to the government!
sharpe
Yeah, that's a great parallel Slim, this kind of news makes me angry even though I'm not concerned from it.