Betting and withholding taxes on lottery causing more lottery operators to shut down – Mr.Speaker roars

Kwame Appiah Kubi aka Mr. Speaker has highlighted a pressing issue concerning the ‘Betting and withholding Taxes on Lottery’ introduced by the government.

This tax, which mandates a 10% deduction on winnings from both sports betting and lottery games, was first presented by the then-Finance Minister in November 2023 as a means to enhance government revenue and support budget operations.

Mr. Speaker pointed out that after the introduction of this tax, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) developed regulations to enforce the policy.

However, the National Lottery Authority (NLA), led by Sammy Awuku and his team, initially declared that the 10% tax did not apply to the National Lottery. This move was part of a strategic decision by the government to avoid backlash from the public, as including the NLA would have likely faced significant resistance.

Despite this initial exclusion, Mr. Speaker revealed that the NLA later instructed private lottery operators to implement the 10% tax deduction on winnings and remit the funds to through the GRA to the government.

The private operators resisted this directive, arguing that the NLA’s previous misleading statement justified the need for a formal government clarification on the tax policy.

Despite calls for an official statement to clarify the tax policy, the NLA refused to issue one. Consequently, the NLA has reportedly threatened private operators with financial penalties if they do not comply, demanding that operators cover the tax amount from their own funds if they fail to implement the deduction.

As Mr. Speaker highlighted, this situation has had severe consequences. Many private lottery operators, who have invested significant amounts in licenses from the NLA, are now facing substantial financial losses.

The conflicting directives and the lack of clear communication have pushed numerous operators to the brink of closing their businesses.

“As I speak to you, a lot of private lotto operators who pay money to NLA for their lisence before they do their work, most of them are losing their business.”

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Story by: Pepertual Anyimadu