Ghana gambling tax backfired massively so govt forced to reverse it

[geordiecolin]

just read that ghana had to scrap their 10% withholding tax on gambling winnings after it completely destroyed their legal betting industry. apparently everyone just switched to offshore sites to avoid the tax and legal operators lost like 70% of customers overnight lmao
hell of example how governments being greedy and killing the goose that lays golden eggs

 

[Jono777]

10% on all winnings? that's insane. no wonder everyone fucked off to unregulated sites
imagine winning £1000 and government takes £100 straight off the top before you even see it

 

[:rekt:]

lol they never learn

 

[yapro]

this is why uk bookies keep their taxes reasonable. they know if they push too hard people just vpn to better sites
ghana basically handed all their gambling revenue to offshore operators for free

 

[ValDes]

the calculation must've been dead simple for punters there. pay 10% tax on licensed site or keep 100% of winnings on offshore site with vpn. who would've made it different tbh?!

 

[underdog.4o4]

yeah similar things happening in other african countries too. nigeria and kenya both struggling with gambling taxes driving people to black market
these governments see gambling profits and think they can just take massive chunk without consequences.. and surprise cant

 

[dealerwins]

and most stupid part is now ghana gets ZERO tax revenue from gambling instead of reasonable amount from regulated industry
went from something to nothing jeez

 

[bill_collins]

This is actually a fascinating case study in optimal taxation theory. Ghana's experience demonstrates the Laffer Curve principle - there exists an optimal tax rate that maximizes revenue, and exceeding this rate reduces total collections.
The 10% withholding tax created an immediate 10% disadvantage for licensed operators versus offshore alternatives. When you factor in typically superior odds/bonuses offered by unregulated sites, the value proposition became unsustainable for rational consumers.
Ghana's gambling revenue dropped from approximately $180m annually to under $50m within 6 months of implementation. The government collected roughly $8m in withholding taxes but lost an estimated $25m in corporate taxes, licensing fees, and indirect economic activity.
This outcome is being closely monitored by other African regulators considering similar policies. The key lesson is that gambling taxation requires consideration of substitute goods (offshore alternatives) that don't exist in traditional industries.

 

[m0r0n]

100% bill dumb gov saw big numbers and got crazy. now they get a piece of nothing and lost all the jobs with investments that came with legal gamblin indsutry

 

[colinsunderland]

meanwhile the offshore sites they drove everyone to dont pay ANY taxes to ghana AND have no consumer protections
really smart policy making there lads! damn...

 

[CoCoSh@]

wonder if other countries will learn from this or make same mistake. seems like opt tax rate is prob 2-3% max before ppl start elsewhere

 

[Scott1baird]

and thisis why system works better on lower-tax jurisdictions. every % matters when youre grinding small edges
ghana basically told professional gamblers to go elsewhere and they did exactly that

 

[EpicW1N]

hwey and the timing was terrible too ngl. did this right when crypto betting was taking off so people had loads of easy alternatives
if this was 10 years ago might have worked cos switching was harder

 

[ahsoka]

wonder if other countries will learn from this or make same mistake. seems like opt tax rate is prob 2-3% max before ppl start elsewhere

hopefully dear

 

[geordiecolin]

hwey and the timing was terrible too ngl. did this right when crypto betting was taking off so people had loads of easy alternatives
if this was 10 years ago might have worked cos switching was harder

crypto casinos dont care about ghana's tax laws, government shot themselves in foot at worst possible time

 

[notsopoor]

classic case of killing golden goose. gambling was massive industry there bringing jobs and tax revenue
now its all gone to malta and curacao sites that contribute nothing to ghana economy

 

[Luciana.29]

bet the licensed operators tried to warn them this would happen but politicians probably ignored industry advice
now they have to embarrassingly reverse the policy and admit it was mistake

 

[geordiecolin]

bet the licensed operators tried to warn them this would happen but politicians probably ignored industry advice
now they have to embarrassingly reverse the policy and admit it was mistake

yep, classic politicians. ignore experts, implement stupid policy, then blame someone else when it fails
least they reversed it i suppose. could've stubbornly stuck with failed policy