The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has announced plans to charge 10% withholding tax on gross wins from patrons of sports betting and other lotteries effective 15 August.
The Ghana Revenue Authority says it has instituted necessary measures to ensure full compliance to the new amended Tax Act.
Sharing the news on Facebook on Tuesday (8 August), GRA said the charge does not include amount invested in staking or playing the games.
“Please note effective 15th August, all winnings in Gaming, Betting, Lottery and Games of Chance attract 10% Withholding Tax. This does not include the amount invested in staking or playing the games,” the GRA said.
Meanwhile, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has begun paying 21% value-added tax (VAT) on all advertisements originating from Ghana.
Experts say the development is part of measures for the West African country to widen the tax net.
The newly introduced charge applies to both business and personal advertisements.
A statement issued by Meta on Thursday (20 July) said all advertisers with a business country of Ghana will be taxed 2.5% NHIL, 2.5% GETFund, 1% COVID-19 Levy plus the original 15% VAT.
“Meta is required to charge VAT levies on sale of ads to advertisers, regardless of whether you’re buying ads for business or personal purposes,” Citi News quoted an email from Meta Business as saying.
“If you’re registered for VAT and provide your name, address and VAT ID, [these] will show up [in] your ads receipts. In the event that you’re entitled to recover VAT, this may help you recover any VAT you paid to Ghana Revenue Authority if you are a VAT registered business in Ghana,” the statement added.
Ghana is currently on a $3 billion International Monetary Fund support to revive its ailing economy that has taken a nosedive as a result of the pandemic and the crisis in Ukraine. The government is targeting the taxation of e-commerce and digital platforms as part of its revenue mobilisation agenda.
