If you’ve read a Ghana Betting Tax 2026 Explained breakdown anywhere else that still mentions a 10% deduction on your winnings, it’s out of date. That withholding tax was repealed on 2 April 2025, and it hasn’t come back. Here’s what actually happens to your money when you cash out a bet in Ghana right now.
What Actually Changed in April 2025
For roughly a year and a half, Ghana-licensed betting operators were required to withhold 10% of a player’s net winnings before paying out — a rule introduced under the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1094). That obligation is gone. Parliament passed the Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1129) on 26 March 2025, and it took effect on 2 April 2025 following presidential assent and Gazette notification.
The amendment didn’t just lower the rate — it removed the withholding mechanism entirely. Lawmakers deleted the sections of the Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) that classified lottery/betting winnings as taxable investment income and that required payers (the operators) to withhold tax at the point of payout. In plain terms: there is no longer a line item on your payout where GRA takes a cut before you do.
What Stayed the Same: The 20% GGR Tax on Operators
This is the part that gets left out of a lot of rewritten “2026” tax guides, and it matters for understanding your odds and payouts even if it doesn’t touch your winnings directly. Act 1094’s other major provision — a 20% tax on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) — was never repealed. It still applies to every licensed betting and lottery operator in Ghana (the National Lottery Authority excepted), calculated on total stakes minus winnings paid out, filed monthly with the Ghana Revenue Authority.
So the repeal in April 2025 touched your tax line, not the operator’s. Betting companies in Ghana are still taxed on their margin at 20%, and that cost structure is part of why odds and promotions look the way they do — it just no longer shows up as a deduction on your winning slip.
What This Means for Your Payout, Concretely
Before 2 April 2025, if you won a bet, the operator calculated your net winnings (payout minus your stake), withheld 10% of that amount, and paid you the rest. Since that date, none of that happens. You receive your full payout as displayed at bet placement — stake plus winnings — with no betting-specific withholding taken out.
- Before Act 1129: Payout shown minus 10% withholding tax on net winnings = amount actually credited to your wallet.
- After Act 1129 (from 2 April 2025): Payout shown = amount actually credited to your wallet. No betting withholding tax applies.
- Unchanged either way: The 20% GGR tax operators pay to the GRA, which is priced into their margins and odds, not deducted from your individual payout.
If your betting app or site is still showing a “tax deduction” line specifically labelled as a winnings withholding, that’s worth flagging with the operator directly — it should no longer apply.
Why Some Sites Still Get This Wrong
A good part of the confusion traces back to the fact that this isn’t Ghana’s first repeal-then-reintroduce cycle. Betting tax was abolished once before, under the Income Tax Amendments (No.2) Act, 2017 (Act 956), then reintroduced in 2023 under Act 1094, then abolished again under Act 1129 in 2025. Guides written during the 2023–2025 window correctly described a 10% withholding tax at the time — but a lot of that content simply hasn’t been updated since the repeal, and it keeps circulating as if the rule were still current.
There was also brief public debate right after the repeal over whether the drafting fully removed the tax or left ambiguity around the broader taxability of lottery income — but the withholding obligation on payouts itself was and remains removed, which is the part that affects what lands in your account.
Ghana vs Kenya: Two Different Tax Models
It’s worth not assuming Ghana’s rules carry over to other markets, or vice versa. Kenya runs a materially different structure — punters there are still subject to a withholding tax on winnings alongside an excise duty on stakes, a setup we break down in our Kenya Betting Tax 2026 Explained guide. Ghana’s current model, by contrast, taxes the operator’s margin (GGR) rather than the punter’s payout.
For a side-by-side view across the region, including Nigeria’s approach, see our Nigeria vs Kenya vs Ghana Betting Laws comparison guide.
Quick Answers
Do I still pay tax on my betting winnings in Ghana?
No betting-specific withholding tax applies to your payout since 2 April 2025. General income tax obligations on your overall earnings are a separate matter handled through the normal income tax system, not through betting withholding.
Did the operator’s tax rate change too?
No. The 20% GGR tax on licensed betting and lottery operators, introduced under Act 1094, remains in force and is unaffected by the April 2025 repeal.
Could the 10% withholding tax come back?
Given Ghana has abolished and reintroduced this tax before (2017 and 2023), it’s not something to rule out long-term — but as of now, there is no such withholding tax on your winnings, and no announced plan to reinstate it.
Kwame Mensah is an experienced gambling analyst focused on the African betting industry. He shares insights on sports betting, casino platforms, market trends, and responsible gaming across multiple African countries.
