Use Mid-Year Budget Review to Suspend the Insensitive Lottery/Sports Betting Taxes: CSBO Urges Ken Ofori-Atta

The Coalition of Small Business Owners(CSBO) through its Convener, Mr. Justice Ayeh Donkor is urging Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance with immediate effect to use the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review to Suspend the Lottery and Sports Betting Taxes imposed on Lottery and Sports Betting Companies and their customers.

The taxes on Lottery and Sports Betting Companies are undermining private sector growth and collapsing businesses. The 20% and 10% respective taxes on the revenue of Lottery/Sports Betting Companies and winnings of the staking public is a complete disaster and retrogressive policy.

So far Akufo-Addo’s Government has imposed almost 22 burden taxes on the businesses and the people of Ghana, a hostile business environment which is not the best for the Private Sector.

The Government is becoming highly insensitive to the plight of businessmen in the Country.

The 20% and 10% taxes on Lottery/Sports Betting would go a long way to collapse the business of the National Lottery Authority and Lotto Marketing Companies.

In 2015, Act 896, a withholding tax of 5% was imposed on the winnings of Lottery. In 2016, the Income Tax Amendment Act 907 exempted the first GHS 2,592 and any excess winning above the GHS 2,592 was taxable at 5%.

The NPP then in opposition promised Lotto Marketing Companies to remove those taxes and even restore the Retailer Commission to 25% for the LMCS but NPP Government has failed to honour such promises.

In 2017, the National Lottery Authority made a proposal to the Ministry of Finance for the scrapping of taxes as a way of attracting more mainstream Operators. The taxes were then removed.

Fast forward to 2023, the Government has reintroduced the taxes even this time around, at the extreme wicked rates of 20% on company’s revenue and 10% on Winnings respectively.

We are calling on Ken Ofori-Atta and the Government to immediately suspend the 20% and 10% taxes imposed on Lottery and Sports Betting Companies and winnings respectively.

We shall resist the oppressor taxes at all cost and also demonstrate against the insensitive Government and Ken Ofori-Atta.