The Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu, has argued that the betting tax is a needless tax that must be scrapped.
In a recent interview with Dr. Ren on Rainbow Radio 92.4FM in the UK, the lawyer stated that we cannot generate revenue through betting.
He believes it makes no sense for a country to use means to benefit from betting.
He said, “If you make betting a source of revenue, you will encourage more people to participate. I don’t think you’d want to create a society in which your young people are encouraged to gamble so that you can profit. What we should look into is an alternative form of job creation for people so that they can be weaned off gambling. You do not impose a betting tax to encourage people to bet. That’s where I totally disagree.”
He stated that he does not even think betting is something that our young people should be encouraged to engage in.
The implementation that started on August 15, 2023, applies to all gross gaming winnings at a rate of 10%.
It replaced the former 15% VAT on each stake and was introduced in line with the amended Income Tax Act of 2023 (Act 1094).
According to Mr. Sosu, reducing the unemployment rate is another important issue that must be addressed to discourage our youth from betting.
“We are gradually twisting our society, and I pray that we will be able to do the right thing and not depend on the revenue of taxation. It is also not true that scrapping the betting tax will encourage more young people to engage in it. The opposite is rather the truth. Betting should not be a source of revenue for the national government,” he added.
