Zimbabwe Votes and Backs 10% Tax on Sports Betting Winnings

[EluguHcman]

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?

It is actually frowning to learn that governments taxes gamblers on each winning and does not care how much they loses before being lucky to secure a win. It really annoys most as the governments does benefits from the taxations on gambling but could not create regulations that would intercede for bettors when they are being outshined by the gambling sites.

I think this new development of Zimbabwe could be instigated as a result of the country was reportedly having to increase their economy revenue to 8.5% that is being cumulate by the rate of gambling  but to me, it is not enough reason to this tax development because Zimbabwe economy rate is not so standard enough yet to delegate gamblers on taxes

[D ltr]

Taxes cannot be avoided, maybe this is unfair to gamblers, it seems they are very cunning, where the government does not want to know how many losses we have received before winning, the government only thinks about winning, hoping that taxes like this will be reviewed so that they do not burden the existing community.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

OMG!

They have put the taxes in the same way as they were implemented in Spain on 1 July 2012, if I remember correctly. By 2013 they had already had to change it. As it was a tax on the gross amount, many people were left with debts despite having losses or little profit.

I translate the headline of a news item on the subject:

Tax authorities go after gamblers: round of fines for online gamblers even if they lose money

[AVE5]

Some governments taxes it residence gamblers so as to inflate them to quit gambling or to gambling responsibly if only the gamblers would look up to what they are liable to achieve or loses at the long run of gambling.
Those who profits would either pay the taxes and keep playing while the looser that could not pay the taxes should be inspired to quit since they have been unable to make profits.
But it literally doesn't seem right because obviously the governments are just earning where they didn't invest by taxing hard labouring gamblers.

[Rabata]

Some governments taxes it residence gamblers so as to inflate them to quit gambling or to gambling responsibly if only the gamblers would look up to what they are liable to achieve or loses at the long run of gambling.
Those who profits would either pay the taxes and keep playing while the looser that could not pay the taxes should be inspired to quit since they have been unable to make profits.
But it literally doesn't seem right because obviously the governments are just earning where they didn't invest by taxing hard labouring gamblers.

If the tax is imposed, only the government will benefit, which may increase the pressure on ordinary gamblers. On the one hand, the uncertainty of winning and on the other hand, paying taxes to the government from the profits will discourage them to some extent. As a result of the imposition of taxes, many gamblers will try to gamble on such platforms that governments cannot tax them. As a result, the negative impact of gambling will spread. If the public of Zimbabwe wants to impose taxes according to their wishes, that is their own business. If governments around the world have such policies regarding gambling, most of the public will want to oppose it.

[Antotena]

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% +

Some African countries aren't smart when it comes to decision and where to tax their citizens, they don't hesitate to do it fast, as long as it generates money, they are in for it 100%. I don't think in the whole Africa there is any country that gamble like Nigerians especially the sport betting and this is as a result of lack of jobs and the jobs around salaries aren't sufficient, this is why we have plenty of gamblers but the government is been careful about gambling tax.

You can't just wake up and says you want to tax everything when you are not providing the basic resources . It was the same Zimbabwe that was fighting hyper inflation with their currency littered on the streets some years ago and yet this is where they are going. I wish the gamblers successful winning in their gambling journey but I know that after this news, many people wouldn't use the national gambling platforms again, they will resort to platforms where governments can keep tract of their gambling activities.

[348Judah]

I don't know if the vote made was in their own favour or that of the gamblers, because from what we heard, they are only going ot take a 1o percentage of tax on every winning bets in sports, but what if the gamblers are not winning but gambling more often, secondly, are the gambling platforms going to be subjected to remitting the payment on his to the government only on those winning and the government are going to take charge by themselves, because it is not easy to have an accurate numbers of gamblers betting and those winning their bets.

[tvplus006]

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

I understand that most people don't want to give part of their profits to the state. Nevertheless, I believe that the Government of Zimbabwe has made the right decision, because in a civilized society everyone has to pay taxes. And in this case, there can be no difference whether you get this income from gambling or from selling mangoes.

[Zlantann]

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

The government will always seek diverse means to fund its budgets. And in most cases they result in taxing the poor masses. This move might increase the government revenue from gambling. But it will also give rise to illegal betting platforms since gamblers will want to patronize them to invade tax. Possibly there might be an increase in the use of foreign online and crypto sports betting companies.

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

Nobody wants to pay higher taxes regardless of how easily the profit comes. Zimbabwean gamblers will see it as an attack and will sell for ways to invade this tax.

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

It's clear injustice. Sports bettors should be allowed to deduct their losses from wins and the balance should be taxed. The government should know that these people have lost for a long time before they get a win.

[Huppercase]

Taxes cannot be avoided, maybe this is unfair to gamblers, it seems they are very cunning, where the government does not want to know how many losses we have received before winning, the government only thinks about winning, hoping that taxes like this will be reviewed so that they do not burden the existing community.

They want to look like they are acting like develop countries, for example in US your gambling profit can be tax upto 24% as a citizen and this is compulsory, this is actually understandable since it's a country that has everything you need as a citizen, you get basic necessity and also health care but place like Zimbabwe where people struggle to get 3 square meal is not morally justify, it's either the government is trying to reduce gambling or eradicate gambling completely.

If the country is standard and there are good benefits of been a Zimbabwe, this is when I think the government can impose tax on things. Even the developed countries are trying to reduce tax for their citizens because the economy is very hard on everyone now and this one's are trying to put rope on gamblers neck for 10% tax. If they remove 10% tax from their winnings, how much is going to be left, this is cheating.

[Wakate]

Taxes cannot be avoided, maybe this is unfair to gamblers, it seems they are very cunning, where the government does not want to know how many losses we have received before winning, the government only thinks about winning, hoping that taxes like this will be reviewed so that they do not burden the existing community.

Yes taxes can not be avoided when a country that you are residing tries decided to implement it. Buy people can still boycott it if that's necessary especially in a case where the tax is too high for gamblers to pay. Just imagine paying taxes on every win you had without emphasizing on those loses you have made in the pass. This should be a gross wins, substrating the loses you had from it to know your overall winnings. This is how it is meant to be done nit trying to get a tax for every single winning without emphasizing on those loses that has been incurred for days or weeks before the big win. Zimbabwe as a country does not have what it takes to carry out this kind of taxing system.

[coolcoinz]

It depends on whether that 10% is added on top of a normal income tax. In many countries gambling is considered income, so if the income tax is 25%, you'll pay that. If Zimbabwe had no gambling tax at all and you had 0% from your gambling wins, 10% is what I call a fair tax, if there can even be a fair one. Especially that I'm used to paying 20% regardless of the source of income.

If that 10% is on top of the normal tax which can be up to 30%, meaning gamblers pay 10% and then income tax, that's pretty abusive.

[DaNNy001]

Some governments taxes it residence gamblers so as to inflate them to quit gambling or to gambling responsibly if only the gamblers would look up to what they are liable to achieve or loses at the long run of gambling.
Those who profits would either pay the taxes and keep playing while the looser that could not pay the taxes should be inspired to quit since they have been unable to make profits.
But it literally doesn't seem right because obviously the governments are just earning where they didn't invest by taxing hard labouring gamblers.

Well I doubt that the idea is actually trying to condition them into stoping or even gambling responsibly because if that was the target they are lots of policy that they would or could implement that wouldn't require taxing and would still prove to be very effective and efficient. I think it's rather for their own profit purpose because thats what the government always does because taxing people off their gambling habits is something that's crazy of an idea because not everyone gains profit even when gambling and then when you win, you get to pay tax on your wins? It's not cool at all.

[serjent05]

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

I do not think it will affect the bettor.  Gambler will still gamble even if the government impose high taxes, remember these gamblers are ready to take a risk and even ready to lose the money so I many of them won't mind to pay tax for winning.

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

Many would evade the taxes if it has to be filed manually but they won't if it is deducted automatically when claiming the pot money.  About the fairness of the system, I do not mind since I think it is fine to tax gambling activities as long as the annual profit percentage is positive.

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

Well, we already know that the government love to tax profiting activities even thought the government don't have a repayment package for gambling losses, they have social welfare support that helps the people in need.

[Z-tight]

I do not have a problem with taxes, if the government is using taxpayers money right, then that is fine, i am not from Zimbabwe, neither do i live there, so i do not know what the situation of things are there. The government have decided and there is nothing their citizens can do, you can try to evade it, but take note that it is a crime and it is punishable by law, nobody likes to pay taxes, but we have to and it is necessary.

[slapper]

While the idea of taxing gambling earnings is not new, Zimbabwe is jumping on without a plan or scale. "We want a piece of your pie, but we won't help you if the crust burns" is essentially what they're saying. Imagine a booming market that has only just begun to take off, and then it gets hit with a 10% hit to its gross wins? Who is to say that it won't result in deceitful tax avoidance or underreporting? People are cunning; they want to hold on to their money when they can, especially during bad streaks when there's no way to recover. Instead of taking the real risk, why not just go to an offshore site that doesn't pay any taxes to Zimbabwe? They may have managed to outsmart themselves in this situation.

[Potato Chips]

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.

Ah, I see. Finding the right term could indeed be difficult.

With my limited vocabulary, the closest term I could think of for gambling platforms you mentioned "on national level" would be fully-regulated local gambling platform/casino 🤔

As for gambling platforms like rollbit, roobet, and similar others. I typically just call them off-shore gambling platforms -- you'll know it if they have licenses from curacao, anjouan, etc.

Lmk what you all think, or perhaps, others have better suggestion/s which I would very much welcome.

[Hispo]

I do not have a problem with taxes, if the government is using taxpayers money right, then that is fine, i am not from Zimbabwe, neither do i live there, so i do not know what the situation of things are there. The government have decided and there is nothing their citizens can do, you can try to evade it, but take note that it is a crime and it is punishable by law, nobody likes to pay taxes, but we have to and it is necessary.

Well,.perhaps you should have some economical and societal contexts about Zimbabwe as a country then. They are economically reckless, some years ago they allowed their currency to spiral into an endless pit of inflation which forced their central back to print banknotes of one trillion Zimbabwe dollars or so, which was enough to buy about a loaf of bread and things alike. They are not fiscally responsible and last time I checked their democratic institutions are weak and their society is pretty much intolerant with the LGBTQ community among their own population, it is basically a backwards country.
So I am afraid an important percentage of those Tara being impaled on winning gamblers are going to end up in the pockets of corrupt politicians and corrupt administrators of the central bank of the country.
I wish to be wrong, but all corrupt countries work about the same, sadly including mine where the governments is run by literal crooks.

[Odohu]

Taxing bettors on gross winnings instead of their net winnings is pure exploitation.  Instead of this type of approach, they would have taxed every credit received from gambling into their bank accounts, so that it would be that gamblers are being taxed from their net profits which is withdrawals. Maybe the government wants to discourage their citizens from gambling as that is the ontly justification for such harsh taxation.

[blockman]

Here in our country, there has been some adjustments with taxation with the gambling industry. It's not directing the winners but the casinos themselves with huge taxation. That's why many operates here as local casinos bu with the online gambling industry, despite being regulated, many of them can't be chased by our government.