Dr. John Kwakye, an economist and director of research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), has stated that he believes that gambling ought to be subject to taxes.
He claims that it would be financially foolish and suicidal to leave betting untaxed.
He wrote in a post on his X page that,”“Betting will become an increasing part of the economy with a huge tax revenue potential. Leaving betting untaxed would, therefore, be fiscally ill-advised and, indeed, suicidal!”
The Mahama government is working to repeal the 10% betting tax, as promised during the 2024 election season.
Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister, recently reaffirmed his support for doing away with the betting tax, claiming that doing so would not have a negative impact on the economy.
“Scrapping the Betting Tax will not affect the forward march of the economy,” he said. He added that increasing taxes is not the only way to boost revenue. “You don’t have to increase taxes to increase revenue. What is important is to increase compliance.”
