Betting Firms Reduce Winning Payouts amid Tax Squeeze

Companies operating betting and gaming services in Kenya have made a significant 14.87% cut in gambler winnings to Sh24.07 billion for the nine months ending March 2025. The adjustment has been implemented, despite a 17.04% increase in betting stakes to Sh75.18 billion.

It is understood, the betting firms have taken this route to survive the Kenya’s increasingly punitive taxation landscape by offering less favorable odds to service consumers. The taxation, always exclude a 15% excise duty on stakes (up from 12.5%), a 20% withholding tax on winnings, and a 15% tax on gross gaming revenue.

Despite the regulatory environment under which these betting firms operate, Kenya’s daily betting averages reached
Sh274.37 million with only Sh87.83 million in daily winnings. This has still enabled betting firms to accumulate Sh32.09 billion in revenue, relative to a substantial 41.89% increase.

In the recent previous days, Kenya’s regulatory bodies, particularly Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), took decisive action to impose a 30-day suspension of all betting advertisements across media platforms. This is due to continuous industry shifts witnessed in nowadays within the betting firms in the country.

This intervention addresses growing concerns that gambling is being misrepresented as a legitimate
investment opportunity, dwarfing development with suggestion that unemployment and economic hardship continue driving betting participation despite the financial losses most participants experience.

The government’s projection of a Sh4.2 billion decline in betting sector tax revenue for the current fiscal year signals a potential slowdown in the industry that has previously withstood regulatory crackdowns, including the Interior Ministry’s 2019 campaign against gaming firms accused of money laundering and tax evasion