Betting tax should not have been abolished – Prof. Bokpin

Economist and Professor of Finance at the University of Ghana, Professor Godfred Bokpin has posited a diverging view about the scrapping of the betting tax.

Parliament on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 approved the repeal of the Betting Tax, along with taxes on gaming and lotteries, as well as the 1.5 per cent withholding tax on unprocessed gold.

This decision came following the passage of the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

But Prof. Bokpin believes government ought not to have abolished the betting tax.

He argued that the betting tax should have been maintained to discourage addiction to betting and also serve as a means to redirect the youth engaged in betting to more productive ventures.

“I have a different view about betting tax. My considered view is that it should not have been abolished because of the detrimental aspect of the addiction. So, you can use tax to redirect energy to more productive areas and all of that,” he explained.

Speaking in an interview on TV3’s New Day, Thursday, March 27, 2025 he argued that government should have adopted a different approach to highlight the negative aspect of betting rather than abolishing the tax.

However, he was quick to add that he views it as a political policy.

“So if you look at the growth for betting, the implications in productivity, addiction, corruption and all of that I think that we should have maybe adopted a certain posture that reflects the negative aspect of promoting this line of activities and all of that but I see that it is a political policy and the President I’m not able to congratulate him so much compared to E-levy,” he noted.

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had announced the implementation of the 10% withholding tax on lotto, betting, and gaming winnings in December 2023, under the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1094). After a six-month extension, the tax officially took effect on January 1, 2024.

The tax after its implementation became unpopular among Ghanaians with many stakeholders calling for its removal.

The repeal of the tax is expected to ease the burden on bettors and other persons in this bracket.

President John Mahama is yet to assent to the bills which approved the removal of the E-levy and betting tax.

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