A Development Economist, Dr George Domfeh has said that former Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam got his comment that Betting Tax was never implemented wrong.
He however, noted that Dr Amin Adam was misled by the Minister of Finance Dr Cassiel Ato Forson who had created the impression that the 10 per cent withholding tax is the same as the Betting Tax.
Dr Domfeh’s comments come on the heels of the certification that Dr Amin Adam gave to his comment that the “NPP did not implement Betting Tax” statement made on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
The Karaga lawmaker has received heavy flak from a section of the public for the statement.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, March 13, 2025, Dr Amin Adam explained that he said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, led by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, never implemented the tax because of how Dr Ato Forson described it.
He said that the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), in their manifesto for the 2024 Election, promised to cancel taxes on “bet winnings,” but the finance minister mentioned “Betting Tax” in his announcement, which to him was a different thing.
READ ALSO: Betting tax: Who is keeping the 10% deducted from bettors’ winnings?
He added that the “Betting Tax” introduced by the Akufo-Addo government was never implemented.
“The NDC, in its manifesto, promised to scrap a 10% levy on Bet winnings. That’s what they said in the manifesto — 10% levy on bet winnings. That’s what they want to abolish. And that can be called a Betting Tax. But it is different from taxes on winnings from other forms of lottery games of chance, such as staking lotto, same as what they are promising to abolish.
“And so, if I see in the statement by the minister that he will abolish (sic) on lotteries and call that Betting Tax, then it sounds reasonable for me to think that he’s equating Betting Tax, which they promise to abolish, to taxes on winnings from other lotteries or other games of chance,” he said.
He added, “And I know that the winnings from lotto, for example, the tax on that was not implemented, and I know that for sure because, as finance minister, I held several meetings on how to implement it, following a petition from the National Lotteries Authority… So, I know for a fact that it wasn’t implemented.”
Dr Amin Adam indicated that he was only taking advantage of the mistake made by finance minister Dr Ato Forson in equating the Bet Tax the NDC promised to the Betting Tax.
He, however, admitted that his statement created a wrong impression that the “Bet Tax” was never implemented.
READ ALSO: We never implemented betting tax, VAT on motor insurance – Minority
“Reasonably, if you know that Betting Tax is different from other taxes and the minister in the same statement sought to equate the two, then I needed to explain that the Betting Tax he was referring to had actually not been implemented.
“But I can also understand that, listening to myself again, it appears the statement created an impression that I meant Betting Tax as it relates to bet winnings was not implemented. If it was, then that was inaccurate on my part. But what I really wanted to say was that what he called Betting Tax, you know, as in taxes on lotto winnings, was not implemented. And so I think that explains the matter,” he added.
Reacting to this development on TV3’s KeyPoints on Saturday, March 16, Dr George Domfeh said “The immediate past Finance Minister [Amin Adam] got it wrong, he was misled by Dr Ato Forson who also got it very wrong. Ato Forson said that they were going to abolish the 10 per cent withholding tax on Lottery Winnings, to me that was very unfortunate, Lottery winnings ,10 per cent withholding tax was never implemented.
“Ato Forson went on to say that otherwise known as Betting Tax and so I have serious problems with the comments of the Finance Minister and also the former Finance Minister. But we say two wrongs don’t make a right and so I was expecting [Amin Adams] having been there for long to tell us that Ato Forson got it wrong by saying that 10 per cent withholding tax was the same as Betting Tax, the two are very different. For the Betting Tax, yes, we implemented it but the withholding tax is different and Ato got it wrong. Amin Adam should have taken his time to respond to him.”
The post Betting Tax: Amin Adam was misled by Ato Forson – Dr Domfeh first appeared on 3News.
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