Sports Betting Tax to begin in April – GRA

This follows the Ghana Revenue Authority’s decision to tax the growing online betting and other on-line based businesses beginning next month. The move, according to the authority, is part of the government’s efforts to widen the tax net and grow domestic tax revenue.

Presently, there are about 33 Sports betting companies duly registered with the Gaming Commission and 8 legal casinos in the country. These companies are expected to contribute to the government’s revenue envelope.

Assistant Commissioner of GRA, Dr. Martin Yamborigya, says the activities of these companies have increased over the years and there is the need to tax their operations. “It is an area that is also growing. A lot of people are moving away from the brick-and-mortar business into this online business.

Dr. Yamborigya added that the GRA has completed the modalities for the collection of the tax and urged betting companies to comply when it begins collection in April.

The Ghana Revenue Authority has had a series of engagements with the Gaming Commission and operators in the gaming and betting industries to ensure that the right taxes are paid by the players in the sector.

GRA’s Commissioner-General, Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, noted that: “There will be vigorous efforts to tax players in the e-commerce market. This sector has been a challenge over the years for the Authority but we have put in place measures that will enable us to make inroads into the sector this year”.

Mr. Owusu-Amoah said getting players in that space to pay taxes, digitization of the economy, and the proposed E-levy would help the GRA achieve its GH¢80.3billion revenue target for 2022.

He added that when the processes are completed, the electronic system of invoicing will replace the manual ways of invoicing and block leakages in the VAT system.