The National Assembly now wants bookmakers taxed 20 per cent of their gross betting revenues, up from 7.5 per cent proposed by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich.
Leader of Majority Aden Duale said after the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Bill goes through the S Second Reading, he will introduce an amendment at the committee stage to have the taxes increased to ensure the country reaps from the billions the betting firms are making.
House Finance Committee had in its report backed Rotich's proposal of 7.5 per cent tax, but Duale said some MPs felt it is not commensurate with the betting firms' huge profits.
“This Bill is meant to discourage gambling. Either we gamble and pay huge taxes so that we build roads and provide better healthcare, or stop,” said Duale.
“To promote growth of this sector and enable it to play its role in encouraging innovation, creating employment and driving growth, I propose to re-introduce a simplifying gaming tax, which shall be a direct charge on the gross gaming revenue,” Rotich told the MPs when he presented the budget last June.
He said the potential of the gaming industry in creating employment and generating revenue for the government is untapped. The bill sponsored by Rotich also introduces levies on all prize competition whose costs of entry are premium. Budalang'i MP Ababu Namwamba said betting is currently a big business not only in the country but in the world.
Sports teams in Europe, he said, depend heavily on betting firms, hence the companies should be encouraged to invest more in local teams. “The local firms should emulate their counterparts in the west to help improve the game locally,” said Ababu, who called on Parliament to put in place sufficient laws to manage the industry.
Nyandarua Women's Representative Wanjiku Muhia proposed that a restriction should be put in place to cap how much stake local investors must hold in the firms. Emuhaya MP Wilbur Ottichilo said: “We need strict regulation on this lottery and gaming in this country otherwise this country will become a gambling country and if it becomes a gambling country, nobody will work.”
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