The Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Sammi Awuku, has provided clarification on his previous comments regarding the betting tax, stating that he was actually referring to lottery tax and not betting.
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) had announced on August 15, 2023, that it would begin deducting a 10% tax from betting earnings in an effort to expand the tax base. This decision was met with widespread criticism, particularly from the youth, who argued that betting had become a vital source of income in the absence of jobs. Many took to social media to express their discontent, prompting political candidates from both the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to pledge the scrapping of the tax if elected in the upcoming December elections.
In an interview on Oyerepa Breakfast Time, Sammi Awuku, who is also a key member of the NPP campaign team, had stated that the tax had not yet been implemented due to challenges with the framework. When asked specifically whether the 10% was not being deducted from betting earnings, he responded, “We have not been able to collect even a cedi. They informed me that as the Director General of the NLA, we are supposed to collect it, but I have not been able to do so because the framework is difficult. We don’t deduct the 10% from betting earnings.”
Mr. Awuku went on to explain that discussions had been held with the GRA and the Ministry of Finance on the modalities, adding, “The truth is, we didn’t know them; we just licensed them three weeks ago, and it is estimated that there are over 380 illegal operators who are still unknown.”
His comments sparked further backlash on social media, with netizens accusing him of providing false information and attempting to shield the government from criticism.
However, during a subsequent forum, Mr. Awuku revisited the issue, saying that the NLA is not responsible for the 10% tax imposed on betting operators. According to him his earlier comments were in reference to the withholding tax on lottery winnings, which lottery operators are mandated to deduct, not betting operators.
Source:thehighstreetjournal.com