Ghana plans a 10% tax on winnings from betting

Ghana plans a 10% tax on winnings from betting
Ghana plans a 10% tax on winnings from betting

The Government of Ghana intends to introduce a 10% tax on winnings from sports betting at the time of payout. This represents a measure by the Ghanaian Government which aims to broaden the tax base and increase national tax revenues. However, the President must approve a bill that is passed by the Parliament. The tax would apply to the earnings from lotteries and gambling, too.

If this happens, the punters must expect that 10% of their winnings will be deducted in the form of taxes. Before the president’s decision, they took to social media to voice their concerns regarding the potential impact on their earnings. Probably this was one of the reasons for the multimedia sports journalist Fentuo Tahiri Fentuo to focus on the issue. Here, he emphasized that taxes would be deducted before the eventual winnings of individual players would be paid out. The news portal GhanaWeb noticed that he wrote in a tweet that betting sites now are charged a 20% tax.

The Government aims to overcome the economic crisis with tax measures

However, the planned introduction of a 10% tax on winnings from sports betting, lotteries and gambling currently doesn’t represent an isolated case in Ghana. On 31 March, parliament passed three new tax measures. GhanaWeb explained, for example, that they include the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill 2022, plus the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022. The Government previously presented its plans to the parliament to generate about 4 billion GH¢ in national revenue per year.

Additionally, these measures assume a key role in the battle for the approval of the 3 billion US dollar programme of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). At the end of the last year, a staff-level agreement was reached. The IMF set criteria for a bailout, and the Ghanaian Government met them by adjusting the tariffs of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).

Furthermore, it published the Auditor-General’s report on COVID-19 pandemic expenditure. Additionally, it integrated into the Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) as well as the Road Fund. Besides, the Government motivated the introduction of the tax with its crucial role in overcoming the current economic crisis.

Alice Kopp
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By Alice Kopp

Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football. Since she has loved writing since childhood, Alice began to study journalism while still at school. It was very convenient for her that her class took part in a project of a German daily newspaper. She was also allowed to write for the children's pages of an Austrian daily newspaper and to get a taste of the sports department of the same medium. This is how she received her first press accreditations, which was of course anything but a matter of course for the then 18-year-old. Although she was partly advised against it, Alice decided to study journalism and communication sciences. After a few years, she decided to use the exams she had taken as an elective. Nevertheless, she applies the knowledge she has acquired in her further professional life. The same applies to her language skills. In addition to her mother tongues German and Italian, Alice is also proficient in English and Spanish. She also understands French and can use this language in research. During her studies, Alice was involved in an Austrian football club. At the same time, she wrote for a total of three Austrian portals and worked as an Austria correspondent for an Italian-language online medium. This collaboration started during Giovanni Trapattoni's era at Red Bull Salzburg and continued during EURO 2008. This gave her the opportunity to interact with Trapattoni as well as with Italian journalists. From the following year, Alice initially worked with a Swiss portal before discovering sports betting content for herself. On the one hand, this kept her in sports journalism, and on the other, it broadened her horizons. And that both in the context of the sports betting industry and with other sports as well as countries. In the field of sports journalism, she focused in particular on football from around the world, volleyball and beach volleyball. In addition, she naturally wrote several guides, bookmaker profiles, bonus articles and other content for betting enthusiasts. She did this for the same company for about ten years, writing articles in German and Italian. She also built the Italian-language website together with the managing director. Meanwhile, Alice started working with another Austrian football club. Furthermore, she joined the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS) in 2016. This gives her the opportunity to watch teams and athletes on the ground relatively often. Not only sports betting, but also radio In January 2019, the next step in her professional development followed. For: she started creating premium content on the topic of sports betting. In the process, she finally put out feelers to almost all countries and all continents. And this was not least due to the fact that both German and English-speaking users subscribed to her content. Nevertheless, Alice continued to use her knowledge of Italian, among other things. On the one hand, because she regularly exchanges ideas with Italian colleagues, and on the other, because she works with a web radio station. The Corona crisis had a strong impact on the sports world and on interest in sports betting, primarily in the early days. Therefore, a fresh start was necessary and, on balance, Alice found the fields of activity that suited her best. She also writes articles for an agency on almost all disciplines as well as on eSports and content for a German online medium. Alice is half Austrian and half Italian. That's why she experienced the 1990 World Cup in Italy at first hand. And that awakened her enthusiasm for football.