Claim:
Former Minister of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, at a press briefing at Parliament, on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, claimed that the previous Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government never introduced taxes on bet winnings, popularly called the Betting Tax.
Dr Amin Adam made this claim while reacting to an announcement by his successor, the current Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, on the cancellation of the Betting Tax and other tax measures introduced by the Akufo-Addo government, including the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy).
The former finance minister laughed at the suggestion that the Betting Tax was going to be cancelled because it was not implemented in the first place.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we never collected the Betting Tax that they said they had abolished. We never implemented the Betting Tax, so to come and tell Ghanaians that you have abolished something that was never implemented is to deceive the people of Ghana,” Dr Amin Adam said.
The question now is, who is deceiving Ghanaians?
Here are the facts on the matter:
Facts on Betting Tax
1. Introduction of Betting Tax by Ofori-Atta
Although there was a form of Betting Tax, which taxed the total revenues of betting companies and lottery earnings beyond a certain threshold, the Akufo-Addo government, through former Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, introduced new elements to the tax, including the taxing of earnings from sports betting, which is essentially the bone of contention in this matter.
Ken Ofori-Atta, during the presentation of the 2023 Budget and Economic Policy Statement in March 2022, announced that the existing “taxation on betting and gambling and other games of chance” would be reviewed and that a “withholding tax on winnings will be reintroduced.”
Here are the exact words of the former minister on the Betting Tax:
“Mr Speaker, stakeholder engagements for the review of the taxation on betting and gambling and other games of chance, which commenced in 2021, were concluded. A tax on Gross Gaming Revenue will replace Corporate Income Tax and VAT in 2023, and a token withholding tax on winnings will be introduced. The procedures for implementation and required changes to relevant laws will be done in 2023.”
Following Ofori-Atta’s announcement, the Income Tax Act, 2023 (Act 1094), which introduced a “withholding tax rate on the realisation of assets and liabilities and winnings from lottery”, was passed to replace the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2015, Act 896.
The former minister, during his presentation of the 2023 mid-year budget review, announced the implementation of Act 1094, saying, “The implementation of tax on Gross Gaming Revenue has begun, replacing Corporate Income Tax and Value Added Tax on betting, gambling, and other games of chance.”
GRA announcing commencement of 10% Betting Tax:
Following his announcement, the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) announced 20% and 10% taxes on the revenue of lottery and sports betting companies and winnings, respectively, from August 15, 2023.
Before the implementation of Act 1094, there was a withholding tax of 5% only on lottery winnings above GH¢2,592 and not sports betting. So, the new law increased the rate to 10% for lottery earnings.
The GRA clarified that winnings from all the lottery covered sports betting, casinos, route operations, remote interactive games, marketing promotions, and other games of chance.
Confirmation of receipt of Betting Tax by the GRA:
The Domestic Tax Revenue Division (DTRD) of the Ghana Revenue Authority confirmed that it was implementing the Betting Tax (earnings on sports betting) in October 2023.
The Commissioner in charge of DTRD, Edward Gyambra, touting the amount of money the country can raise from the tax, said that the country earned GH¢15 million from its implementation within a month.
“During the first month of implementation, we averaged GH¢20 million for the GGR. As for the withholding tax, we’ve just started the betting season, but during the lean season, we averaged GH¢15 million. We anticipate this to quadruple by May,” he stated.
The controversial betting tax was revoked earlier today but back in October 2023, the Commissioner for the Ghana Revenue Authority’s Domestic Tax Revenue Division, Mr. Edward Gyamerah told Channel One TV that the GRA had already generated GHS15 million from the tax after just one… pic.twitter.com/b1ZQmcuv7l
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) March 11, 2025
Evidence for betting slips:
Evidence from betting slips gathered by GhanaWeb online shows that the government was indeed charging the 10% withholding taxes on bet winnings.
Analysis
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, during the presentation of the 2025 Budget, categorically indicated that the John Dramani Mahama government was going to cancel the implementation of the 10% withholding tax on lottery winnings, including the betting tax.
He said, “We will abolish the 10% withholding tax on winnings from lottery, otherwise known as the ‘Betting Tax’.”
The GRA, in its announcement of the implementation of the 10% withholding tax on lottery winnings, said the tax covered earnings from ‘sports betting’ and other games of chance.
So, Ato Forson was right in asserting that the ‘Betting Tax’ was being charged by the government.
Verdict
Dr Amin Adam’s claim that the Akufo-Addo government did not implement the Betting Tax was misleading.
All the evidence gathered shows that the Betting Tax was being implemented by the Akufo-Addo government, unless the former minister means something different from the ‘Betting Tax’ he referred to.
BAI/AE
Meanwhile, catch the first in the series of our special episodes on Forgotten Forts on People and Places on GhanaWeb TV below. This episode focuses on Fort Amsterdam at Abandze:
Also, watch a compilation of today’s news in Twi here: