Information from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) indicates that the Akufo-Addo government did indeed put the 10% betting withholding tax into effect, refuting assertions made by former Finance Minister Mr. Mohammed Amin Adam that the tax was not enforced by the prior administration.
For example, the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA reported in October 2023 that it accumulated GH¢15 million from the betting tax in the initial month of its implementation. Moreover, the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government announced in 2024 that the betting tax garnered GHS1.2 billion in revenue.
Mr. Edward Gyambra, the Commissioner of the DTRD, remarked regarding the initiation of the betting tax: “In the first month of enforcement, we averaged GH¢20 million for the GGR. The season for withholding tax has just begun, yet previously in the low season, we saw GH¢15 million. By May, we expect this figure to increase fourfold.”
The GRA aimed to generate around GH¢400 million through the introduction of the 10% withholding tax on betting in order to enhance government revenue. To further illustrate that former Finance Minister Amin Adam and Karaga Constituency MP misrepresented the truth during his media appearance, shortly after Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the current Finance Minister, shared the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for 2025 in Parliament on March 11, 2025, several sports betting enthusiasts took to social media to call out Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam for his claim regarding the NPP administration’s lack of action on the betting tax.
In response to Dr. Amin Adam’s statements, some Ghanaians who have noticed deductions from their betting earnings are now questioning where those taxes have gone and are requesting an urgent inquiry into the situation.
They have called for a comprehensive investigation into how the previous government dealt with the funds generated from the 10% betting withholding tax.
