Kenya mps to-ing and fro-ing on betting tax hike

A proposal to raise online betting taxes seven-fold will go under review in the Kenyan Parliament this week.

Our readers will recall a proposal announced by Kenyan Finance Minister Henry Rotich last month increased the existing 7.5 percent betting tax on gross profit to a punitive 50 percent.

The proposal received widespread backlash from industry stakeholders (see previous reports) whose view was seemingly supported by MP’s who rejected the measure in the National Assembly Wednesday last week.

But, in a turn of events, MP’s voted in favor of Finance Bill 2017, which includes the betting tax provision on betting, gaming, lotteries and prize competitions, later that same week.

Division and dissent amongst Parliamentary members reportedly followed prompting majority Leader of the National Assembly of Kenya, Aden Duale, to invoke provisions of Standing Orders to return four sections of the Finance Bill, 2017 for a second vote.

It is believed that the second vote is scheduled in the Kenyan National Assembly Tuesday but at this stage it’s anybody’s guess what that outcome will be.

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