{"id":52996,"date":"2017-06-25T09:56:40","date_gmt":"2017-06-25T16:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=52996"},"modified":"2017-06-24T15:06:10","modified_gmt":"2017-06-24T22:06:10","slug":"online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate as Online Betting Booms Across Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

In an attempt to corral the growth of an industry that has in recent years taken a country by storm, Kenya has imposed a major tax hike on betting companies.<\/p>\n

\"Kenyan
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved a huge increase to gambling taxes this week, hoping to slow the growth of what politicians believe is an undertaxed online gambling boom. (Image: HapaKenya)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Wednesday, President\u00a0Uhuru 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. (That\u2019s in addition to a 30 percent corporate income tax that all companies pay in Kenya.)<\/p>\n

The potentially prohibitive tax increase will apply to all forms of gambling, including online gambling, which\u00a0accounts for most of the gambling currently taking place in Kenya. Previously Kenya taxed bookmakers at 7.5 percent, casino gambling at 12 percent, raffles and competitions at 15 percent, and lotteries at 5 percent.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the tax and members of President Uhuru\u2019s Jubilee party said it was time to contain the growth of gambling that is being facilitated by technology but otherwise is going unchecked.<\/p>\n

“We were very concerned about betting among school-goers so we made it difficult for people to bet,\u201d President Uhuru said during an online town hall in April. \u201cWe want people who bet to have their money go to constructive projects through tax.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Mobile Gambling Explosion<\/h2>\n

Kenya\u2019s Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich believes the rapid growth of online gambling<\/a>\u00a0has been driven by the proliferation of smartphones and improved mobile internet speeds, and creates a danger to the \u201cyoung and vulnerable.\u201d Therefore he wants to stunt the industry.<\/p>\n

Kenya is currently the third-largest gambling market in Africa, behind South Africa and Nigeria. Online sports betting in particular has thrived in the past few years, in cyber cafes and via mobile phones.<\/p>\n

\n

According to recent analysis, the second-most visited website in Kenya is SportsPesa, which happens to be the country\u2019s most popular sports betting platform. The only website that gets more traffic in Kenya is Google.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

(SportsPesa is fixed on global expansion and recently made inroads into the UK by becoming a shirt sponsor for Premier League soccer<\/a> team Everton. )<\/p>\n

Gaming Operators Cry Foul<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Currently licensed operators in Kenya have balked that the new tax is unworkable, saying it will drive them out of the market while deterring international operators from setting up shop in Kenya.<\/p>\n

“I know there is a big cry in the gaming industry because of the 50 percent tax,”Uhuru had said during the April town hall, “but we can sit down and engage with the affected parties.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But Uhuru would find that lowering the tax to 35 percent did not appease detractors of the new rate.<\/p>\n

Wanja Gikonyo, head of\u00a0Betway\u2019s Kenya division, told the local Star<\/em> newspaper that the impact of this tax increase will stretch beyond current gaming providers and will discourage investors from considering Kenya, shifting their focus instead to countries such as Uganda, Ghana, and Zambia, which offer less punitive taxation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a regional point of view, if as a country we end up being the highest taxed it would affect potential investors coming in,\u201d Gikonyo said. \u201cIf they look at the environment vis-a-vis countries next to us, they might go there because (they have) a more favorable tax environment.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an attempt to corral the growth of an industry that has in recent years taken a country by storm, Kenya has imposed a major tax hike on betting companies. On Wednesday, President\u00a0Uhuru Kenyatta signed a finance bill into law that will levy a 35 percent tax rate on all gambling revenue for bookmakers, casinos, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":52999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10,13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate to Slow Explosive Growth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"President of Kenya signed a law setting taxation rate for all gambling activity at 35 percent, either to slow growth or assure government gets its share.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate to Slow Explosive Growth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President of Kenya signed a law setting taxation rate for all gambling activity at 35 percent, either to slow growth or assure government gets its share.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-25T16:56:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-24T22:06:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/President-Uhuru-Kenyatta.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/\",\"name\":\"Kenya Ups Its Gambling Tax Rate to Slow Explosive Growth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/President-Uhuru-Kenyatta.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-25T16:56:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-24T22:06:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"President of Kenya signed a law setting taxation rate for all gambling activity at 35 percent, either to slow growth or assure government gets its share.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-betting-booms-across-africa-kenya-ups-gambling-tax-rate-slow-explosive-growth\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/President-Uhuru-Kenyatta.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/President-Uhuru-Kenyatta.png\",\"width\":620,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta approved a huge increase to gambling taxes, as the African nation\u2019s gaming market has exploded in recent years, thanks largely in part to increased smartphone ownership and available bandwidth. 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