Topic: Nigerian Government plans to begin taxing gambling. - page 6. (Read 2256 times)

I have read something like this too, I didn't really pay much attention to it though, but right now all I can say is that the Nigerian government only think of themselves. Most youth or even people who are engaged in gambling today are into it because of lack of employment opportunities and it not as if this tax will bring employment opportunities or even make the country better.

Rather I will even suggest Nigerian government should focus more on taxing betting companies, but taxing individuals on their winnings will just be too bad for them. When you go to bet shops and see how people gamble just to earn a living in Nigeria then you will know that this country is really hard and the economy is very poor. Imagine having to work hard to be able to get money to gamble and after winning you are still ask to pay tax that just really bad.

Usually when taxation comes into the picture, it's not always about revenue collection as perceived... sometimes this is done as a way to discourage the citizens from preoccupying themselves with a gambling mindset that negatively affects their productivity.

So basically this is the governments way of protecting it's human resource because citizens must come first.

Unless you say gambling is a positive industry then tax is bad  but we all know this is done in the best interest of the people!!!

You do have a point but I'm not quite sure about that. Most cryptocurrency casinos are licensed in countries that are tax evasion paradises, such as Cayman Islands or Curacao and usually avoiding many regulations countries have put in place. From my point of view, I don't think it's possible to start providing the government with details solely regarding Nigerian users for example, that we're discussing in this topic, as it seems too time consuming and restrictive. On the other hand, it would be easier to simply prohibit Nigerian users from signing up, due to regulatory issues with their government.

With tax, a country can continue their development to make their country grow. The government will increase taxations from time to time with a reason of developing their country and the company can not refuse the increasing because they know their obligation for the country. And as long as the taxation income is not taken by corrupt enforcers, that money can be used to the right thing for their country. We will see a good development in the country where many public facility will be build and maintain the existing facility with that money. But in many countries, tax was abused by the enforcers who corrupt so country can not develop to the better.

People will not hide their gambling activity because they know that is useless as the government can finds them and when they win, the government will ask them to pay tax. But yes, I agree that some gamblers will still hide themselves from the government when they playing gambling especially when they win because they don't want to pay the tax. Their reason is because that is their money that they gets from gambling and they already pay the tax from their salary so their winning in the gambling will not be counted. The government can easily asking the bank to check all of their customer's account to know which account that is related to gambling. The gambling company sends the money to the winners in their bank account or the winners saving the money in their bank so that will makes the bank easier to track the transaction. But that will be different if the winner use the other ways to hides their win money.

Personally I think the government will focus on taxing gambling companies and organizations instead of taxing gamblers. Honestly, I still don't understand how they are going to tax gamblers. For a casino to operate, they need to have a business license and be regulated by the government. But for gamblers like us, if we want to gamble, we don't need to go to government agencies to register or get a license, so how can they tax us? Not to mention, for those using cryptocurrency payment methods, this becomes many times more difficult, how can they keep track of all of us?

Taxing gamblers directly is difficult, it would be much easier to concentrate them in casinos instead.

That's right, when gambling is legalized, more and more people will gamble because I think in every country there must be people who are interested and attracted to gambling, even in countries that do not allow gambling, there must be those who gamble secretly, whether it's physical or online gambling. Of course, when gambling is legalized, there must be physical casinos that will be established and that will certainly invite many people to visit, so the government will make the casinos have to pay taxes because there are clear benefits.
I myself don't think the bank will find out where the money that comes into our account comes from if the amount is still reasonable and not too large, but when the money that comes in is an unreasonable amount, the bank might take further action. That's natural, but I don't think the bank will tell the account holder to pay his taxes, personally I have never experienced anything like that.

If asked, surely every government anywhere will say that the results of the tax will be used for the benefit of the people, for the progress and development of the country, national development, and so on. Whether it will really be 100% or not the optimization of the funds, hopefully there will be no corruption or misuse of the results of this taxation.

Because surely, taxes from gambling must be very large, especially if indeed in Nigeria, there are already many people who are concerned with the gambling space. That will be a very large state income for the development of the country. but make sure, is it for development.

But, does that mean that gambling there is legal and protected by the government? What I mean is when they apply tax to gambling, it means they should provide protection or laws to protect gamblers and also regulations for casinos more clearly, right?

It depends on what the government is actually willing to do with that mo ey collected through gambling taxes, though. In countries like the United States, in which there is a heavy tax on the people who profit off gambling, the money is actually used to improve the quality of life of the people and does not go directly into the pockets of politicians. On the other hand, in developing countries like Nigeria, the leaders of the ruling party could be pretty much aware of the millions of dollars which are moved daily within the industry and they could want to keep a piece of the pie and not let it all for both lucky gambling winners and casinos.
I also live in a very corrupted country, and if the governments started to enforce some taxation on gambling, people would be very mad because of it and I would even  see a decrease of the gambling volumen from local gamblers, as they would feel very unsatisfied by giving money to the government. I underground gambling and betting would blossom.

Were you not inform about how the government was trying to remove security levy from each transaction aside from the vat tax that is already been deducted. They seriously wanted to implement it but when they observed that people were screaming and wanted to protest, they dropped it immediately because similar thing happen in Kenya when the presidency pass a bill to increased tax but people violently protested and didn't agree with him, it's the same thing that happen to the gambling tax.

The government sometimes announce this things first to know if the people are going to react and since there is hardship everywhere and the feedbac they got weren't palatable, they had to stop it for now but I'm very sure the government will bring this again in the future just to make money from the people, very inconsiderate government that want to kill their own people.

I believe it’s a withholding tax, where the government makes sure they get their cut, so your net winnings are what’s left after the tax deduction. It used to be tax-free, but now it seems the government is eager to grab a bigger share of people's money. Personally, I wouldn’t mind being taxed on a lottery win rather than not winning at all --after all, the odds of winning the lottery are nearly impossible, almost like throwing money down the drain.

Yeah you are right, it's only those that are making profits on their business that supposed to be taxed and not gamblers. If the government starts collecting tax from gamblers I am sure that many gamblers that are not yet gaining from gamble will stop playing bets.
However, even if a gambler is winning from gamble, I see no reason for them to pay tax to the government (it doesn't make any sense), now let's say that the gamblers have been losing in the past (6) six months and the total amount the gambler have lost is $5,000, then one faithful day the gambler won $4,900. Will the gambler still pay tax when he's still at lose of $10? If anyone is supposed to pay tax, it is the casino managements that are supposed to pay tax because it is their business.

I have been reading comments on this thread and it’s obvious to me that everyone who has the opinion that this tax is necessary because it will help build the economy clearly does not know how the Nigerian government works. There is nothing that the government will do that will benefit the people. If this tax law is passed, which I suspect it will because the current administration is known for its successful tax reform policies, this tax law will completely ruin the gambling business in Nigeria. It won’t be long before casinos take taking their business elsewhere.

Yeah, it's a huge jackpot and life changing win. And also, another condition is that whoever made that raffle says that it is tax-free then it is going to be tax free. It's either exempted from the taxes or they're the ones that are going to be obliged paying the taxes. So, on top of the jackpot money, if they'll be paying it then that's a lot of money on them to pay for.

If you mean lottery winnings in the Philippines it used to be tax-free, but when the TRAIN law was implemented, things changed as it's already 20% tax.

But this is fine since it's a lottery winning, meaning it's a huge jackpot that could change your life forever. 

I've read through the link and I didn't read the method to which they want to conduct this taxation on gambling. Because part of what I was curious to know is that, will they be taxing the individual on each bet they've played or they will be taxing the gambling company which I know that most of the companies already are paying tax to the Nigerian government. Now if they said they want to tax individuals who gamble, the question will be at what point will they be taken their tax is it at the point of staking or after you've won your stake then they take a certain percentage from it, so I don't really get it, so they need to come clear on that.

I wonder how will the gamblers be taxed if that's the case? Upon withdrawing, they might get that "TAX" that you're saying I guess.

I know we're in the same country and as far as I know, it's those regulated casinos out there that's been taxed. Whether it's a physical one, or an online one, they're the ones that are paying and not us gamblers. Will they tax gamblers in the future? I don't think so or else, that might cause a reduction of gamblers. Just imagine if you're a gambler, you're risking your money into something that has a lower chance of you winning and when you win, your money will be reduced just because you need to pay tax.

TBH, these "TAX" things is a lowkey way for the government to get some of your money. I mean we've seen another RA being implemented that add an additional tax on digital goods but this is out of the topic already. This will not happen... at least for now, and I don't think that it will ever happen as well.

In some countries it's not taxable but countries like USA, gambling winnings are taxable.

It’s really better in countries where gambling winnings aren’t taxed, since it doesn’t make sense to tax something where most gamblers actually lose. Just because we win once doesn’t mean we’ll win the next time we gamble. So, that tax becomes a burden to regular gamblers who are trying to find an edge, but it ends up taking away from their potential gains.

You are right because I have not seen were someone win a gambling and they ask him to pay a tax or deduct it from there wining, so actually I don't think that the taxation method works that way, however if Nigeria government wants to implement the tax on the gambling there is nothing bad about it but they should exclude gamblers because they are only patronising the gambling platform so if there should be someone that deserves to pay the tax it will be the company, secondly I'm still thinking about how they would cover up both online gambling platform and the offline because the number of gambling shops we have in this country is too much, so I think the government should only focus on the online gambling.

Yes, in most places where gambling is illegal there are much more severe penalties than government regulations where taxes on betting are truly unknown. But as you earn throughout the year your employer takes money from your paycheck to pay income tax and other taxes. If you're an independent contractor or self-employed you likely make quarterly tax payments but these tax deductions and payments are only estimates. Also if you gamble occasionally for fun and not as your main source of income you will have to pay income tax on any employment.

Your points are accurate. From what I know in Nigerian gambling law, the government taxes the gambling operator and not the gamblers themselves. Anything can change, only that I've not read a news buttressing the claim we are even discussing here. I've always known the Nigerian government to be gentle with the people engaging in risky activities like trading and gambling, it is so sudden to read that they will now start taxing the gamblers. Bookies are making huge money from their customers, it will be ill-advised if the government can think the way they can make more money is to increase the pains of the gamblers who are mostly losers.

For the government to gain more, it's just to increase the taxes of the operators, the government loses nothing. Nigerian government is even weak in technology, I wonder how they would be able to tax the gamblers fairly if they wanted to. To tax gamblers fairly, the government should tax their aggregate gains and not every gain without considering the losses the gamblers incur at times.