20%? Is this even real ? Most of the companies not related to gambling pay lower than 10% but not the same in Kenya when it comes to the sports gambling. Now the biggest football clubs have joined hands to oppose this rule.
In a bid to raise cash for the financial year amid the struggles caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani has reintroduced the tax, which was removed by President Uhuru Kenyatta in July last year.
“Excise duty on betting at 20% of the amount will be wagered,” said Yattani, which would mean that the amount would be levied and passed on to a person who has won on a bet, which according to Yattani would also help discourage betting in the country.
But AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda and Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier argue that the tax will negatively affect betting companies supporting local teams and lead to the withdrawal of their much-needed sponsorship.
Both Shikanda and Rachier explained that betting firms have consistently supported football in the country, cumulatively delivering Sh1.6bn (US$14.8m) from 2016 to 2020, and therefore should not be punished through stricter tax measures.
In the statement, Shikanda and Rachier said the return of the tax would cause current league sponsors BetKing to withdraw their sponsorship, explaining that the excise tax was one of the reasons why SportPesa left the Kenyan market in 2018.
“The enactment of the 20% excise tax will unequivocally rule out continued sponsorship of football clubs across all tiers (National Super League, Division 1 and County Leagues), with the net effect of rendering the operations of most of the league teams unsustainable,” the joint statement read.
Now this is not just :
Unsustainable and unreasonable but according to them "ill timed", their whole sponsorships will be effected. This high taxation will also cause gamblers sore.
During pandemic the gambling is a huge income source for them and the government alike. Therefore I do believe that either they should have done it slowly or done it after the pandemic.
They are now asking the government to reconsider it.
{This is exactly the kind of news we need because this shows how the democratic countries can move forth and oppose such things, not always the tax is legit if served by the government during such times}
What do you think ?
The funny part is the average person thinking that these people are in any way helping society. The world would be a much better place if every country around the world had identical tax laws and the millionaire/billionaire owners behind the biggest companies in the world were not able to hire teams of lawyers and accountants to figure out every loophole imaginable. Society loses every time these jackals and hyenas are able to burrow away ever more of their gains, inequality keeps on growing and democracies become ever weaker in the face of walls of money. Tax most definitely should be fair and capitalism is a good thing, but it needs strong regulations and politicians who can out-think the lobbyists sent to corrupt them against the public good.
