The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collected Sh12.47 billion in taxes from betting firms in the eight months to February 2025, new disclosures show, making the segment the top performer among all tax heads in terms of contribution targets.
The latest KRA figures reveal that the collection of excise duty on betting services and other betting taxes recorded a performance of 110.2 per cent over the eight months, even as other taxes struggled.
“Excise on betting services and betting tax recorded collection of Sh12.469 billion, translating to a performance rate of 110.2 percent against the target,” KRA said.
The taxman credited the performance to enhanced integration with various betting firms.
In the year to June 2024, KRA collected Sh24.2 billion from betting and gambling companies, an increase of 26.2 percent from Sh19.2 billion in taxes the previous year.
Despite KRA’s integration of systems with those of betting firms, the number of licensed companies in the sector has also increased from 100 in 2021 to 200 by June last year.
Taxes in the betting industry include a 7.5 percent excise duty on stakes, 20 percent on winnings and other taxes paid by the companies to operate their businesses.
In the eight months to the end of February, KRA says it collected Sh1.62 trillion in the form of exchequer revenue for Treasury and agency revenue on behalf of state corporations.
“This translates to a performance rate of 95.6 percent against target and a growth of 5.1 percent over collections same period in FY 2023/24,” the authority says.
KRA has a target to collect Sh2.68 trillion in the fiscal year ending June 2025, but most of the taxes have been unyielding.
KRA collected Sh360.9 billion in pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) taxes in the eight months, which was 92.8 percent of the target, and non-oil taxes of Sh349.6 billion, or 92.7 percent.
Oil taxes were the only other tax head to perform above target with a collection of Sh224.9 billion (Sh101.2 percent).
Between July 2024 and February 2025, the taxman collected Sh236.5 billion in domestic value-added tax (VAT), missing the tax head’s target by 3.7 percent.
“However, it is important to note that domestic VAT performance in the recent past (November 2024 – February 2025) has shown great improvement, with a performance rate of 99.3 percent on account of successful roll-out of VAT prepopulated returns,” the taxman said.
