Economy

Punters get tax relief as betting law takes effect

casino

A woman placing a bet at a local casino. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL

A section of betting firms have complied with legal changes in taxation of the multibillion-shilling sector and dropped the 20 percent excise duty charged on a punter’s stake.

Tuesday’s move came as the tax measures contained in Finance Act of 2020 took effect in what will now see punters only charged withholding tax on their winnings.

Betting firm Betika in text messages to its customers said that it had dropped the excise duty on a placed stake in line with the move by Parliament that scrapped the tax last month in a bid to woo gaming firms who exited last year.

“Betika has dropped the 20 percent excise duty on stakes,” the betting firm said in messages to punters Tuesday.

Parliament scrapped the excise tax last month saying that it is meant to reverse the negative effects of stringent measures that included closure of firms including SportPesa and Betin.

Closure of the firms last year led to jobs losses for hundreds of Kenyans and a revenue gap to the taxman who had annually collected billions of shillings in taxes from the betting industry. The relief to punters comes months after they unsuccessfully sought a nullification of the tax through the court last December.