Some youth in Ashaiman-Lebanon say they are awaiting President-elect John Dramani Mahama’s scrapping of the 10 percent sports betting tax, as promised in his campaign messages ahead of the December 7 general elections.
The 10 percent withholding tax introduced in 2023 by the current government is intended to increase the country’s domestic tax revenue.
The introduction of the tax led to a lot of backlashes from the youth and campaign promises from the president-elect and the National Democratic Congress to abolish it when voted into power.
The youth speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said they were looking forward to having the tax abolished, and that they depend on sports betting for survival.
The GNA gathered that to be successful in sports betting, one must understand all the moves and terms, such as correct score, booking (red card), corner, either half, aviator, bottles, spin the wheel, voucher, and cards, among others.
The youth who engage in sports betting call themselves by many names, including investors and game-men.
Mr Nasiru Mussah, who engages in sports betting at one of the many betting centres in Ashaiman, said he occasionally engages in it through some of the sporting platforms.
Mr Mussah said even though he often takes bets during his desperate financial period, he became frustrated when they started deducting the taxes from the little wins he depended on.
According to him, betting comes with its own emotional challenges therefore, adding the 10 percent tax increased their frustration, calling for its total abolishment.
“The emotional toll of losing both bets and seeing my team lose can be overwhelming. It is very tough to watch your team losing, especially after deciding not to withdraw potential winnings when ‘cash out’ is given. It can drive you to go mad, and now this tax on the bet too is another headache,” he said.
He described the tax as a burden on the youth, saying many of the youth in Ghana rely on bets as their financial pillow during tough times.
“When you get a lucky winning bet, and they tax it, it is very devastating irrespective of the amount you win,” he added.
Mr Benjamin Arhin, another bettor, backed the call on the president-elect to fulfil his promise of abolishing the tax, reiterating that taxing sporting bets meant taxing the youth’s survival.
He said most of the youth engage in betting due to the high rate of unemployment in the country and the many expenditures they need to take care of, such as rent and utility bills.
“We bet because they have not created jobs for us, and we have expenses we must take care of. The companies that have available jobs also do not pay well, but with betting, you can win enough to take care of your things,” he said.