Kenyan president signs 35% on betting tax rate

On Wednesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta officially signed the Finance Bill 2017 that will impose a tax of 35% of gross profit on all gambling activities in the country.

A week ago, the President rejected the previous version of the bill because he did not agree on the proposed tax rate as he proposed a 50% rate. The high rate he proposed was to help to discourage gambling amongst the youth of Kenya as he said.

Τhe new tax rate of 35% will be uniform on betting, gaming, lotteries and prize competitions, which is well above the rates operators had been paying. The rates for Kenyan Bookmakers were at 7.5%, the tax for casino gambling was at 12%, 5% for lotteries and 15% for competitions.

In Kenya gambling takes place on-line. Financial services allow users to place bets and get winnings on their phone without the need of a bank account. 7 million Kenyans have already registered for betting services.