The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), in its fight against revenue leakages, proceeds to integrate into its platform 87 betting firms that had been previously put on hold.
According to KRA, the integration will enable quick computation and remittance of betting firms’ taxes after midnight daily and by 7 am the following day, respectively.
“KRA has commenced the integration of the final 87 betting firms into the system. This is expected to significantly enhance revenue collection from the sector,” The KRA stated in its update.
The tax man stated that 36 betting companies had been previously integrated, contributing to the significant increase in the betting and gaming sector revenue.
On bets and earnings from betting firms, KRA aims to collect daily excise duty of 7.5% and a withholding tax of 20%, respectively.
The tax revenue from the betting and gaming sector climbed to Sh15.1 billion, marking a 23.9% rise over the previous year due to the inclusion of betting firms on the KRA’s radar.
In a further breakdown, as shown in KRA data, excise duty collected from betting saw a 116.2% increase totaling Sh6.64 billion. Withholding tax on winnings also grew by 21.6%, giving a net of Sh8.6 billion.
KRA tax target of Sh5.72 billion was exceeded with a surplus of Sh925 million.
“Excise Duty on Betting registered an exceptional performance of 116.2 percentafter KRA collected Sh6.64 billion from the sector. The increase in Excise duty on betting reflects a growth of 30 percent compared to the same period in FY 2021/2022,” KRA stated in a press release sent to newsrooms.
“The performance is attributed to the integration of betting companies into the KRA tax system.”
By May 12, when a real-time deposit of the betting taxes goes into effect, the 87 betting companies must be integrated appropriately with KRA systems.