Association Calls For Sustainable Dialogue on 35pc Gaming Tax

The Association of Gaming Operators Kenya (AGOK), says they are ready to pay tax, but would like to engage the government to agree on a reasonable rate acceptable to all.

“Let it be known to the government and the public that we are ready and willing to pay tax. We would like to engage the government to agree on a reasonable rate that makes sense for them, us and all investors. We are not against tax,” said Judith Kiragu, Secretary – Association of Gaming Operators in Kenya (Agok) on Tuesday at a media briefing held in Nairobi.

According to AGOK, the imposition of tax in such magnitude without proper consultation with the industry and experts  would scare away investors in other sectors of business.

“35 per cent increase will lead to the mushrooming of illegal gambling forcing operators to close driving them off-shore, secondly the government will lose gaming tax revenue and Kenyans will lose jobs,” said Kiragu.

They shared similar sentiments on the matter of betting among minors and appreciate the need to protect vulnerable groups… “This is one of our core functions”.

“Unfortunately we believe that they have been ill advised that a tax of this nature will achieve the desired results,” they note.

Further, they noted that the 35 per cent tax should not be uniform across all gaming operators. The tax should take into consideration the various operating environments of each of the sectors.

“Lotteries are, by law, required to pay 25 per cent of their revenues to charities…Online sports betting and gaming companies must pay for software providers in most cases and feeds in all cases. With the imposed tax their business will also become unsustainable,” they observed.

The previous taxes prior to 1st Jan 2018 were: Lottery (5 percent), Sports Betting (7.5 per cent), Casino (12 per cent) and Price Competition (15 per cent).