Casino owners, accountants split hairs on proposed 15 percent levy on winning bets

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Officials from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) and casino owners on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, disagreed on a proposed amendment to the Income Tax Act that seeks to empower operators to withhold 15 percent tax on winnings from land-based casinos.

A land-based casino is a physical casino with a licence to provide roulette, poker, baccarat, punto banco, blackjack, and gambling on gaming machines.

Winnings are defined as the amount won minus the stake placed by the player. For instance, if one stakes sh10,000 and wins sh50,000, the taxable amount would be sh40,000. Which in this case would leave the winner with sh34,000.

Presenting on Wednesday, a delegation from the Uganda Gaming Operators Association, which was led by Bob Kabonero, founder of the renowned KTaxampala Casino and consisted of Barnabas Taremwa, argued that while the government had a legitimate mandate to mobilise revenue, collecting this tax is a toll order.

“Land-based casinos are different from real-time casinos or online betting. Because on online, every single player has an account, and you can log in and trace the transaction. But when you have 100 people playing at the same time, different games, there is cash on the tables, cashing out, cashing in using the same money, it is practically impossible to collect,” Kabonero explained.

Adding that they have brought previously to the attention of Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).

“And they have been in these places for months, and they have agreed that, actually, it is impossible to collect this tax. That’s why originally, they came up with a gaming tax at 15 percent on gross revenue. Then they increased it to 20 percent and it is now currently at 30 percent on gross revenue; we don’t complain,” Kabonero alluded.  

Chipping in Taremwa elaborated “This is a gambler, a person who has come into the casino with sh1 million, he has staked it, possibly lost it, goes to his next player, borrows another million, he stakes it, he loses 50 percent of that money and when he goes to cash out on sh500,000, not knowing that he has already lost sh1million, you start asking for a tax. That environment would be toxic.”

Adding that the tax would be offending principles of taxation, which demand that taxes must be justifiable, easy to ascertain and fair, most importantly.

“Gambling or casinos are actually a new industry in this environment, but gambling is as old as centuries. People have gone out there to do benchmarking; there is nowhere in the world that you can implement that taxation. I don’t know if it doesn’t happen in Las Vegas, how it would happen in Uganda,” he summed.

Contrasting take

On the other hand, submitting earlier on, Sirajje Baguma Kanyesigye from the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU) instead wanted the withholding tax on winnings doubled.

“We welcome the proposal and further propose that the withholding tax rate applicable be increased to 35 percent,” a copy of the submission reads.     

Reality of the matter

Reacting to the matter, Finance Vice Chairperson Moses Aleper (Chekwii county) observed, “What you have mentioned in your submission relates to how complicated it is. Possibly, we can say that with time, when we understand the industry and ongoing within the practice, we shall find how to work it out. But as of now, it is easier to trace the online (gaming) than the land-based casinos.”