Parliament’s experts on economic policy and budgeting have criticized the move to raise the tax on betting companies.
They urged legislators to reduce the proposed “punitive” taxation on gaming companies and instead come up with other ways to put an end to illegal gambling.
The National Treasury has proposed to increase taxes on betting, lottery, gaming and competitions 50 per cent, which Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said was aimed at reducing the negative social effects of gambling and also raise revenue.
They also opposed the National Treasury’s decision to increase the number of goods liable to be charged value-added tax, as a reversal of gains in the review of the VAT Act in 2013.
Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), this says that this would be an assumption that taxation alone was the remedy.
In a presentation made to the Finance Committee, PBO called for a slight reduction in the proposed tax and ensuring that gambling takes place only in authorized establishments.
Hon. Jakoyo Midiwo and other parliamentarians praised the proposal to raise tax on betting companies describing the act of gambling as a social ill that needed to be tackled.