Kenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate as On Line Betting Booms Across Africa

In an attempt to corral the growth of an industry that has in recent years taken a country by storm, Kenya has imposed a tax that is major on betting organizations.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta authorized an increase that is huge gambling fees this week, hoping to slow the growth of exactly what politicians believe can be an undertaxed online gambling boom.
On President Uhuru Kenyatta signed a finance bill into law that will levy a 35 percent tax rate on all gambling revenue for bookmakers, casinos, lotteries, and any other business involved in wagers wednesday. (That’s in addition up to a 30 percent corporate income tax that all organizations pay in Kenya.)
The tax that is potentially prohibitive will connect with all types of gambling, including online gambling, which accounts for some of the gambling currently taking place in Kenya. Formerly Kenya taxed bookmakers at 7.5 percent, casino gambling at 12 percent, raffles and competitions at 15 per cent, and lotteries at 5 per cent.
Supporters of the income tax and members of President Uhuru’s Jubilee party said it was time and energy to contain the growth of gambling that is being facilitated by technology but otherwise is going unchecked.
‘ We had been very concerned about betting among school-goers so we made it problematic for people to bet,’ President Uhuru stated during an on-line town hall in April. ‘ We want those who bet to have their cash (more…)