Zimbabwe Votes and Backs 10% Tax on Sports Betting Winnings

[Ultegra134]

Nobody likes taxes; I'm not surprised that they want to tax gambling; it's a huge industry, and I'm personally not against it if the money gained from this taxation goes to a good cause, such as improving health care. Certainly, no one likes paying, including myself, but this rule usually doesn't apply to us, since we're using cryptocurrency casinos, which up until now, operate under the radar. The centralized casinos will be subject to taxation; this perhaps will lead more users to using cryptocurrency casinos to avoid any repercussions but won't make this measure ineffective. People will always resort to using the centralized casinos as they're easier and more convenient to use.

[Hatchy]

It won't be fair on sports bettors of course because they might have had at least 10 losses before a win and now they have to take out 10% of the winning as taxes but when they lost the government or anybody didn't compensate them.

Should the players be taxed? Why aren't the casino or the betting sites taxed instead because literally this doesn't make sense.. for a gambler who wins in a whole streak and manages to win just one, they still get to remove the tax from it. No gambler would be happy after he lost to me the casino and still gets to pay some shitty taxes.. even if the government has no other ideas on how to generate revenue, why impose the tax on the player? It's would have been much better if the casino pays it instead and probably takes a little percentage from the gamblers..but not as taxes.. this might actually reduce the rate of gambling in some countries if Imposed.

[Potato Chips]

Nobody likes taxes; I'm not surprised that they want to tax gambling; it's a huge industry, and I'm personally not against it if the money gained from this taxation goes to a good cause, such as improving health care. Certainly, no one likes paying, including myself, but this rule usually doesn't apply to us, since we're using cryptocurrency casinos, which up until now, operate under the radar. The centralized casinos will be subject to taxation; this perhaps will lead more users to using cryptocurrency casinos to avoid any repercussions but won't make this measure ineffective. People will always resort to using the centralized casinos as they're easier and more convenient to use.

Most cryptocurrency casinos are centralized too actually—there's a central authority. But as you said, they're under the radar and most of them are off-shore business hence there's a good chance a lot will be non-paying operators—from the sources, operators would be tasked to collect taxes.

TBH, I wouldn't blame players if they decided to go to a alternatives lol. Zimbabwe appears to want to make use of the money to fund their sports sector as well e.g. support players, build infrastructures, etc. which I think is a great idea but they should at least made friendly terms..

[sunsilk]

There are special cases that the winnings are tax-free so I think that there's a bracket to this law of Zimbabwe. Actually, this is a good development for them if they are ever doing it.

Because in most countries where gambling is a huge industry, they really have to max out the profits that the government might earn from them so as this.

In a country like them, they have to do it and I don't think that this will ever stop gamblers in gambling. This means a go-signal for most of them, and all they have to do is to pay them taxes.

[Miles2006]

10% tax is too much not minding the amount generally government should tax base on the amount, tax has always been an issue and it’s considered the least when it comes to payment. How can gamblers fit in knowing the money used for wagering is not theirs (government) afterwards they partake in sharing. How’s the condition there to this extend or they no longer task the casino just bet winnings, the tax will still not regulate gambling activity and they’re not interested in regulating this activity just for taxing purpose IMO.

[Hispo]

10% tax is too much not minding the amount generally government should tax base on the amount, tax has always been an issue and it’s considered the least when it comes to payment. How can gamblers fit in knowing the money used for wagering is not theirs (government) afterwards they partake in sharing. How’s the condition there to this extend or they no longer task the casino just bet winnings, the tax will still not regulate gambling activity and they’re not interested in regulating this activity just for taxing purpose IMO.

My problem with this 10% percent tax on gambling winnings places upon gamblers is how the government seems to be missing the fact Zimbabwe is a developing country with an very empoverished people, many of them probably gamble in order to get some money out their dispair, and yet they still put such a tax into law without the social and economical consequences it will have on gamblers in general.
Instead of taxing those who win money through gambling and betting, they should instead first focus to grow their country through other means, by creating jobs and opportunities, by the exploitation of their natural resources and perhaps bringing in some transnational companies willing to split the earnings of mining fairly with the government.
They cannot just expect all people of the country to support a functioning system through taxes, there most be other mechanisms of productions properly working, otherwise there will be no generation of wealth...

[rodskee]

So what do you think about this new tax regime of gambling profit in Zimbabwe!

i do not know the overall situation of zimbabwe when it comes to gambling so it is difficult to judge the new rules based on the current state of the gambling industry in zimbabwe is it a big thing there? is it generating a lot of profit for the people and the country? and more other questions

   
Do you think the gambling population would see it as a fair system or they would evade paying the tax?

does anyone like paying tax? no especially one as high as 10% on the gross winnings so even if i have no complete picture of the gambling industry in zimbabwe i can tell that most gamblers will be angered by this and might even hide their winnings from the government

[Hirose UK]

Isn't this already happening lot, some countries impose winning taxes on gamblers and there are lot of responses of dissatisfaction with tax provisions like this but until now everything is still running and there are also some gamblers who deliberately avoid.
Personally, if I lived there, I would definitely avoid winning taxes more because it is not comparable because the losses are much greater than the amount of winnings that can only be obtained occasionally in several betting sessions, if you think about state income then it will be very useful but if you talk about fair or not, it is clearly not fair policy.

[Davidvictorson]

It won't be fair on sports bettors of course because they might have had at least 10 losses before a win and now they have to take out 10% of the winning as taxes but when they lost the government or anybody didn't compensate them.

Lawmakers are out of touch with what the poor people are suffering in the country. So because there is a  significant growth in its betting industry, evidenced by the increasing number of sports betting establishments across the country that is why they are introducing a 10% withholding tax on growth winnings of sports betting- very ridiculous. Why are they not taxing the operators that are springing up everywhere in the country? Oh, I know why it is because these lawmakers are the ones operating these betting shops. Yes, they are running it. They are making money from it and instead of paying their taxes, they want to move that responsibility to the winner. Between the gambling operators and their customers, who makes more money? We all know who.

[Nrcewker]

More importantly, government introduce tax on gambling profit but they don't have repayment package for wager loses   hehehe

This is the main reason why many gamblers and traders hate to pay the taxes. In my country, there is a strict rule to pay 30% of the withdrawals as tax. No matter if you win or lose, if you made withdrawals at any exchange to your bank account, you are forced to pay the taxes. For this reason many gamblers and traders are using decentralized exchanges to cash out their money. If the tax was limited to 3-5%, then everyone would have shown support to pay the taxes, but anything above 10% is too much.

[Apocollapse]

It is final tax? like if someone earn $10, they need to pay $1 and if they earn $1,000, they need to pay $100.

Unlike income tax where if someone earn $10, they high likely not pay any tax, while if they earn $1,000, they might need to pay $200, depends on the tax bracket.

The government is clever to tax 10% on sports betting winnings because they will get tax from small bettors, as we know there are many small gamblers, so the government will earn a lot by tax all the gambling winnings.

[ethereumhunter]

The gambling population will see this for two things. One side will think that is a fair system and they want to pay the tax but in the other side, many of them will evade paying the tax. This is already happen in many countries which is agree and disagree with the tax. That will be worst if the government officials corrupt that tax money and will not use that for their countries so that is normal if those people act like that. They don't want to see the tax will not be used to grow their economy but will be used for the corrupt officials.

[Kelward]

Governments are looking for ways to generate income and they will explore any means to take from gains, but they will not consider loses. Gambling is designed for the gamblers to lose more than wins and taking part of the wins from them without considering the probabilities that they must've lost more than what they're winning is not really fair. But there's nothing that the gamblers and the gambling sites can do about it, they have to comply with the government regulations whether it flavors them or not. Poor countries should reduce the tax burdens on their citizens because most of them are poor.

[Free Market Capitalist]

It is final tax? like if someone earn $10, they need to pay $1 and if they earn $1,000, they need to pay $100.

Unlike income tax where if someone earn $10, they high likely not pay any tax, while if they earn $1,000, they might need to pay $200, depends on the tax bracket.

The government is clever to tax 10% on sports betting winnings because they will get tax from small bettors, as we know there are many small gamblers, so the government will earn a lot by tax all the gambling winnings.

It's much worse than that, they want to tax every bet you make, so you may find you've won $1K and they claim $10K in taxes.

The only way you will pay $100 on $1K won is if that $1K is won on a single bet. If you have placed many bets, where you first won $2K, then lost $500, then won $800 and then lost $1.3K, net you will have won $1K but from the four bets you will owe $280. The more bets you place to get that $1K the more you will owe the IRS.

[Hewlet]

African countries are waking up to tax regimes and various countries around the continent are making various tax reforms that focus more on virtual and online activities which gambling is part of such activities, while some countries like Nigeria focus more on taking taxes from the winnings and licensing fees

tax that are just centered at extorting money from any known is is definitely not to the best interest of the people. When you tax on wins and don't consider that it takes a lot of losses before you can get a win, it becomes really selfish to some extent. It's best that casino and sports betting platforms be taxed since for the most part, they are the ones that are on a higher winning side,.taxing 10% or above on normal gamblers who aren't even doing the gambling as a job but only does it for fun while getting to win some few funds doesn't make much sense.

Generating income and revenue by taxing different sectors is good but failure to make use of the generated revenue  for the right cause is something that makes the process uninteresting.

[Lida93]

From the article it's obvious the Zimbabwean government is only scouting for a avenue through which they can prop up revenue to support their budget expenditure since Zimbabwe is one country in Africa that seems to be struggling economically with a debased currency as a result of bad policies.

With a critical look on the proposed tax on sports bet winnings, the approach by the country's finance minister obviously indicates that they only care more on what they can profit from this move with less or no concerns about the impact of gambling on its citizens.

Do you think the gambling population would see it as a fair system or they would evade paying the tax?

Nop, I don't think this initiative by the government will be anything that the gambling population is going to embrace with both arms but truthfully there's nothing they can do about it, except that they have to quit gambling due to this but it not possible either that they will all quit. About evading the gambling tax,  if there's a way on that, then many won't hesitate to.

[GigaBit]

If the government imposes a tax on gambling winnings from gamblers, it is definitely a negative aspect. If gamblers have to pay 20 percent tax on their winnings, then it is definitely a negative aspect for that gambler. If the government had taken some measures like managing the loan service on the rate where the tax is imposed on winnings, then I think it would have been able to bring some relief to gamblers. A gambler may have a big loss behind a big win, but if the government takes 20% of that big win, then the gambler is not in profit. I think if a tax is imposed, it should not be more than 5%. Moreover, the tax should not be imposed on gamblers but on gambling platforms so that they can get regular revenue.

[Ultegra134]

Most cryptocurrency casinos are centralized too actually—there's a central authority. But as you said, they're under the radar and most of them are off-shore business hence there's a good chance a lot will be non-paying operators—from the sources, operators would be tasked to collect taxes.

TBH, I wouldn't blame players if they decided to go to a alternatives lol. Zimbabwe appears to want to make use of the money to fund their sports sector as well e.g. support players, build infrastructures, etc. which I think is a great idea but they should at least made friendly terms..

I don't know the right word to use for the casinos that function on a national level, those that are allowed by the government, in other words. For instance, in Greece we have Stoiximan, Novibet, and many others. Those have all your personal details and automatically deduct taxes for any earnings you withdraw above €100. I'm not sure what to call them, which is the reason why centralized probably wasn't the right word. For instance, Roobet, Rollbit, Stake, and many other cryptocurrency casinos are blocked in Greece because they supposedly do not have a license and are put on a blacklist. In reality, they don't have any authority over them, thus can't earn money from taxes; they're trying to contain the gambling community to the available "national" options.

[Betwrong]

Zimbabwe has now joined the league of countries trying to make money on gambling through taxing winners. The government has made the tax regime to help support in the budget for the country. Just like countries like US, Germany etc, they have decided to tax on winning/profit and not operation without considering that gambling population is still growing which can be a discouragement.

To me it can be a draw back despite that the sporting events is getting patronage there but it is not like the US where gambling is already taken as investment and the gambling profit tax is about about 20% +

A new tax will make sports bettor in Zimbabwe feel a little underwhelmed when they see their net winnings. Even worse, the proposed and now enforced 10% tax which is taking effect on January 1, 2025, will be calculated on players’ gross winnings every time they get a wager right.

So what do you think about this new tax regime of gambling profit in Zimbabwe!

Do you think the gambling population would see it as a fair system or they would evade paying the tax?
~

I personally think that taxing gambling profit, whether it's 10% or 20%, is wrong. It's unfair because no one one gives us anything back when we lose. So, if I've lost $100 to sports betting and then won $100 I should pay a tax? It's absurd, because my "profit" is actually zero. Should they tax my winnings if during a year I've earned $1,000 through sports betting is a different question totally. I don't know. But what I know is that taxing every win is nonsense.

[danherbias07]

One thing I realized after the new cockpit was built near our place. Gamblers will still keep on gambling even if the government puts a tax on it. Yeah, I heard the cries of the patrons of the cockpit and yet they still kept on going back there even if they knew how much money was getting away from the tax that was input by the government to the winners too. Yeah, same as Zimbabwe.
But they might also want to put some tax on the platform itself because they will make profits out of the losses of the gamblers and they must share some of that with the government.
Now, if this goes successfully, they could implement new rules like tax returns, especially for gamblers who are betting high amounts and those who gamble almost every day.