Kenya keeps debating the taxing regulation

Kenya increased gaming taxes from 7.5 per cent to 35, and now they could reduce them again.

Kenya.- After authorities of Kenya approved an increase of gaming taxes from 7.5 per cent to 35 per cent, Kenya’s Finance and National Planning Committee recommended a reduction of taxation to 15 per cent. The governmental committee presented the project this week and it could also maintain the current 20 per cent tax on gambling winnings.
Meanwhile, the Parliament of Kenya has decided to cut the proposed tax on lottery and betting winnings to 10 per cent and supported the option to lower gaming levies by more than half to 15 per cent. National authorities, however, keep debating which measure would achieve the president’s signature to become the new law on gaming taxation.

Furthermore, Golden Key Casino director Martin Dunford warned the government in a letter to the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) about the potential loss of 10,000 jobs in the Kenyan casino segment if a 23 per cent rise on gaming revenue taxes stands.

The sector is fighting to survive in a hostile environment provided by Kenyan authorities and casino executives are trying to overturn their position: “Most of them (casinos) are saying we would rather just close,” Association of Gaming Operators Kenya chairman Ronald Karauri stated.