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Sports betting companies were the most popular search terms on Google in August, according to data recently released by the major search engine. ‘Sportpesa’, ‘betpawa’, ‘betika’, ‘betin’, ‘forebet’ were found to have been the most popular terms typed by Kenyan users of Google.
It is also important to note that the latest results reflected a continuation of a persistent trend showing the popularity of sports betting in the East African country. In July, for example, the ‘How to withdraw from sportpesa” search was the second most popular one in Kenya, according to Google data. Information from previous months and recent years has, too, shown that sports betting has been dominating searches and that Kenyans are interested in that particular industry and what gambling operators servicing Kenya have to offer.
In a separate round of news, it became known that the country’s Parliament has rejected a proposed cut of the tax rate on gambling from 35% to 15%. The proposal came from the Finance and National Planning Committee and was voted down by the House over the weekend.
The proposed amendments regarding the current taxation of gambling services provided in Kenya was tacked onto the Finance Bill 2018. A similar proposal was added in June to the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018 but was rejected by Kenyan MPs.
How Did Kenya’s Gambling Taxation Drama Started?
The Kenyan Parliament approved last summer a proposal that saw the introduction of a 35% tax rate on all forms of legal gambling services provided in the country. Different products were taxed at different rates prior to that proposal. The new regime came into effect on January 1, 2018 to great discontent from the industry.
It resulted in major sports betting operators withdrawing their sponsorships of local sports clubs and leagues, arguing that the new tax rate represented a heavy blow to their income. Companies have been lobbying heavily for the introduction of a more reasonable taxation reform, but to little success, as it can be seen.
The latest rejection of a proposal for a tax cut saw comments from MPs who argued that they cannot lower gambling taxes at a time when countries are introducing blanket bans on gambling advertising, referring to Italy. Other MPs expressed surprise that the Finance and National Planning Committee had succumbed to pressure from betting companies.
As mentioned above, the latest proposal included a reduction of the existing tax rate of 35% to just 15%. As part of the proposed amendments to the current taxation regimes, lawmakers have also offered for the current contributions made by gambling operators to good causes to be reduced from the current 25% on the companies’ local revenues to just 5%. That proposal, too, was rejected by House MPs.
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The post Sports Betting Companies Dominate Google Searches in Kenya as MPs Reject Gambling Tax Cut appeared first on Casino News Daily.
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