{"id":29091,"date":"2026-07-16T09:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=29091"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:52:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:52:46","slug":"ugandan-president-returns-betting-tax-bill-over-casino-exemption-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/ugandan-president-returns-betting-tax-bill-over-casino-exemption-clause","title":{"rendered":"Ugandan president returns betting tax bill over casino exemption clause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Museveni wants Parliament to reconsider a clause exempting land-based casino winnings from a proposed withholding tax on gambling winnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Uganda.- Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni <\/strong>has returned the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026<\/strong>, to Parliament for reconsideration, objecting to a clause that would exempt land-based casino winnings from a proposed withholding tax on betting and gaming winnings. Museveni also declined to assent to the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2026<\/strong>, arguing that provisions in both pieces of legislation require further review before they can become law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the centre of Museveni\u2019s objections is Clause 11<\/strong> of the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, which proposes introducing a withholding tax on betting and gaming winnings while exempting winnings earned from land-based casinos licensed under Uganda\u2019s Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the president, there is no justification for taxing gambling winnings differently based on where they are generated. He argued that exempting casino winnings would create an uneven playing field for operators engaged in similar gambling activities and create opportunities for tax avoidance and revenue leakage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa<\/strong> informed Parliament of the president\u2019s objections during a sitting on July 14, telling lawmakers that both tax bills would have to be reconsidered before they could receive presidential assent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation formed part of the government\u2019s 2026\/27 revenue proposals, which Parliament had already approved. Among the measures were a harmonised 30 per cent tax on betting and gaming operators and a 15 per cent withholding tax on players\u2019 net winnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Museveni did not oppose the introduction of a tax on gambling winnings, his decision indicates that the proposed framework must be amended to ensure consistent tax treatment across betting and casino operations before it can take effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The development means Uganda\u2019s gambling sector will continue operating under the existing legal framework until Parliament reviews the president\u2019s recommendations and agrees on a revised version of the legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Uganda gambling operators face June 30 tax waiver deadline before July tax overhaul\u00a0<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Museveni wants Parliament to reconsider a clause exempting land-based casino winnings from a proposed withholding tax on gambling winnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":6226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has rejected the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, 2026, citing concerns over a proposed exemption for land-based casino winnings from a new withholding tax. Museveni argues this creates an uneven playing field and opportunities for tax avoidance, necessitating reconsideration by Parliament to ensure consistent tax treatment across all gaming verticals. This decision delays the implementation of a harmonized 30% operator tax and a 15% player withholding tax, leaving the sector under existing regulations.","focusai_entities":"Yoweri Museveni, Thomas Tayebwa, Parliament, Lotteries and Gaming Act, 2016","focusai_location":"Uganda","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), gambler_consumer (0.7), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Uganda Tax Reconsideration","query":"What specific amendments to the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2026, are anticipated to address President Museveni's concerns regarding equitable tax treatment across all gaming verticals in Uganda?"},{"label":"Operator Impact Analysis","query":"How will the delay in implementing the new tax framework, and the eventual harmonized 30% operator tax, impact the financial performance and competitive strategies of licensed iGaming and land-based casino operators in Uganda?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60013,60025,60020],"tags":[2689],"class_list":["post-29091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-featured-article","category-legislation-news","tag-gambling-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29091"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29252,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29091\/revisions\/29252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}