President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday recommended that betting, lotteries and gaming activities should be taxed at the rate of 35 percent.
The President was speaking at the Eldoret State Lodge after rejecting to assent to the Finance Bill, 2017, which was meant to amend the laws relating to various taxes and duties.
Uhuru said he rejected the Bill because Parliament deleted the clause that was designed to discourage the youth from engaging in betting.
"The purpose of Amendment of Section 59 B of Cap 469 was to "discourage Kenyans, and especially the youth, in directing their focus on betting, lottery and gaming activities instead of productive economic engagement, a vice that is likely to degenerate into a social disaster," President Kenyatta stated in his proposal signed today.
He added, "The proposal, which read, “29. Section 59B of the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act is amended in subsection (1) by deleting the word “fifteen” and substituting therefor the word “fifty” was however dropped when Parliament passed the Bill.
The President continued, "This totally negates the spirit underlying the proposal to have the betting tax raised as pointed above,"
Uhuru directed that Clause 29 of the Bill be reinstated with amendment to read: “Section 59B of the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act is amended in subsection (1) by deleting the word “fifteen” and substituting therefor the words “thirty-five.”
In April, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich proposed that taxes be raised from the current 7.5 percent (betting), 12 percent (lottery), 15 percent (gaming) and 15 percent (competition) to a uniform 50 per cent for all categories.
While reading the 2017/2018 budget statement, the Treasury CS highlighted that betting, lottery, gaming, and competition companies had grown tremendously, adding that the sector is inadequately regulated.
The President, however, stated that the government was willing to engage the betting industry in discussion to deliberate a way forward.
