Mahama promises to abolish the 10% tax on sports betting
Ghanaian presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, John Dramani Mahama, has promised to remove the 10% tax on sports betting if elected into office.
He made the statement in Accra while responding to a question raised by a Ghanaian youth during the NDC’s Town Hall Conversation.
The questioner said, “Mr. President, if we wake up and don’t bet, it means we will not get food to eat. But withdrawing 1000 cedis and getting taxed 100 cedis is not easy. So I want you to assure us that if we vote, you’re going to abolish the 10% tax on betting.”
In response, the former president said, “We’ve talked a lot about this, if we come, we will abolish the betting tax. We know that this government has signed a deal with the IMF to initiate the betting tax, but when we come, we will find an alternative revenue source to replace the betting tax.”
Nana Addo’s administration introduced the 10% withholding tax on betting and lottery winnings in August 2023. Despite the public rejection of the tax by Ghanaian youths, the government went ahead to enact and enforce it.
It is applied at the payout point for all betting, games and lottery wins. The regulation aimed to mobilize domestic tax revenue and address the country’s economic challenges.
Ghanaweb reported that the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) revealed in October 2023 that it generated GHc 15 million within a month from the 10% tax on sports betting alone.
