Public gets more time to weigh in on proposed 20% online gambling tax

The National Treasury is giving the public another month to comment on a proposal to introduce a 20% tax on online gambling.

It comes as political parties argued during the debate of the Mid-Term Budget Policty Statement (MTBPS) last week, that they will refuse to accept any new proposals to directly tax cash-strapped South Africans, and supported the notion of a new gambling tax instead.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is due to deliver the budget 2026 next month, and he will want to avoid last year’s debacle after attempts to introduce a value-added tax (VAT) increase to raise more revenue for the State were largely rejected.

In November, the National Treasury released a discussion paper on taxing the gross revenue from national online and interactive gambling.

The Treasury estimates it could raise around R10 billion annually from introducing such a tax, which would be levied on top of existing provincial taxes.

The Treasury, however, said the main aim of introducing such a tax is not about raising money, but rather to curb what has become a social ill as desperate citizens look for quick ways to earn money.

Rise Mzansi member of Parliament (MP) Makashule Gana, who is fiercely in favour of the introduction of such a tax, is unperturbed by suggestions from the industry that it would be unconstitutional.

"We will not rest as Rise Mzansi until there are proper gambling reforms that protect lives and livelihoods because no nation has ever gambled itself to prosperity."

The deadline for public comment on the discussion paper has been extended to the end of next month.