The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) takes on SportyBet over a Ksh 5 billion tax bill in its fight against incorrect tax contributions by betting operators.
SportyBet has operated in Kenya for about eight years, offering players betting services at its best. The famous firm has taken legal steps against the Kenya revenue authority, pointing out that the taxman is impeding its operations by freezing six of its bank accounts and Safaricom pay bill numbers over claims of unpaid Ksh5billion in tax.
Sportybet Ltd, in its pending case before the high court, told Justice Alfred Mabeya that a preservation order the KRA obtained in April, which was extended in July, prevented the firm from paying salaries, rent, and other vital obligations.
“The respondent currently employs over 20 Kenyans, and the continued freezing of its bank accounts on the basis of the preservatory orders issued herein has forced it to find alternative but costly means of meeting its salary obligations and other contractual obligations to third parties,” SportyBet said in its application.
The KRA said the result of its conducted tax compliance assessment on SportyBet is a debt of Ksh5 billion. And this result negates the firm’s claim that it consistently pays taxes and obtains compliance certificates yearly. KRA’s Layer, Sega Addah, told the court that there was under-declared income by SportyBet starting from 2018-2021.
In response to KRA Claims, SportyBet explained that internal transfers occur within the various pay bills, and calculating all the pay bills transactions will lead to counting the same funds over and over again.
The possibility of a customer depositing an amount to the pay bill without utilising the total amount to stake exits. And according to the firm, a pay bill transaction does not count as net income.
The freeze of the firm’s accounts is granted for a limited period before the formal move to court. KRA is permitted to do so under the tax procedural act.
The court extended the freeze till the application was ruled on. The date of the ruling will be communicated to both parties.