Less than two years after its introduction, Ghana has made the somewhat controversial decision to reverse a gambling tax policy. Originally, the tax involved taking 10% of all winnings made through gambling and was introduced to increase domestic revenue and help regulate gambling as a whole.
However, the decision to repeal this tax comes from concerns shared by Ghana’s finance minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who believed such a tax was placing financial strain on households across the country.
Gambling is an incredibly popular pastime in Ghana. In fact, a report published in 2024 revealed that over 70% of Ghana residents have engaged in betting activities. Such a high number includes both individuals who regularly attend casinos as well as those who make use of online casino sites. These websites have become increasingly popular in recent years and are often preferred over more traditional forms of gambling due to both their ease of accessibility and the additional security benefits that surround them. For example, many casinos allow for the use of cryptocurrency and have inclave integration. Inclave integration explained briefly, is where online casinos securely store passwords and allow users to access them from anywhere in the world. Whereas cryptocurrency is a digital currency that can rise or fall in value over time and is easily integrated into the casino world because of the way it encrypts payments and keeps information secure.
As well as increasing the accessibility of gambling to Ghana residents, there is the additional hope that removing this tax will increase the disposable income of individuals and consequently boost economic activity. The decision emerged as part of a larger strategy that aims to enhance tax compliance across Ghana and increase consumption so as to improve Ghana’s struggling economic standing.
The original 10% tax was implemented by former President Nana Akufo-Addo and revoked by the current president, John Mahama, who is currently serving his second non-consecutive term. In fact, after holding the title between 2012 and 2017, Mahama is Ghana’s first re-elected president.
Many people are happy with this news, especially because a move to increase the tax to 50% was also considered but ultimately abandoned in favor of scrapping the tax altogether. However, there are some who worry about the consequences this move will bring. One of these groups is The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), which have spoken publicly on the fact that the betting tax was a significant and valuable source of government revenue, which will now be lost. Alongside the other recent tax cuts Ghana has made, they worry this move could worsen the country’s already strained fiscal position, which, alongside the removal of certain levies, could culminate in a revenue loss of GHS6.4bn (approximately $483 million).
On the other hand, betting operators within Ghana have responded positively to the change, with many increasing their marketing efforts and implementing several welcome bonuses to encourage new players to gamble.
