Uganda casino operators warn winnings tax could put 2,500 jobs at risk

Casino operators in Uganda have warned that more than 2,500 jobs could be at risk if the government goes ahead with a 15% tax on gamblers’ winnings.

The Uganda Gaming Operators Association says the tax would be difficult to collect in land-based casinos and could drive players towards illegal gambling.

It wants the government to keep taxing casinos through an existing levy on their gross gaming revenue instead.

The association says casinos directly employ dealers, cashiers, security guards, cleaners and hospitality staff, whose wages pay for rent, school fees and other household needs.

Local businesses supplying food, transport and maintenance services also depend on the sector, it says.

“This is not simply about casino operators. We are talking about employees who depend on these jobs, families supported by their incomes and local businesses that supply our establishments,” said the association’s chairman, Robert Kabonero.

“We recognise the government’s responsibility to mobilise revenue, but tax measures must also consider their potential impact on employment, business sustainability and existing revenue collections.”

The operators say the main problem is working out how much a player has actually won during a visit to a casino.

Online gaming records every transaction in a player’s account. But in a conventional casino, players buy chips several times, swap them and move between tables and machines.

The tax is meant to apply only to net winnings when a player cashes out. The operators argue that calculating this would mean tracking every transaction a player makes during a visit.

They give the example of a gambler who arrives with 1m Ugandan shillings, buys chips, plays several games and leaves with 700,000 shillings. The cashier pays out 700,000 shillings, but the player has lost 300,000 and has no winnings to tax.

The association says collecting the tax would require spending on customer identification, transaction monitoring, reconciliation systems and extra staff, as well as safeguards against wrong assessments and disputes.

It warns that those costs, combined with the loss of customers, could weaken licensed businesses and reduce the tax the sector already pays.

The operators also say no other country applies a similar tax on winnings at cash-out in land-based casinos.

Instead, they want genuine casino activity to remain under the existing 30% tax on gross gaming revenue, which is calculated as the total amount wagered minus winnings paid out.

To tackle tax avoidance, the association proposes separate licences for land-based and online casinos, separate financial records, independent audits, closer monitoring and penalties for operators who deliberately misclassify transactions.

“We are not opposed to taxation, and as licensed operators, we pay our fair share,” Mr Kabonero said.

“We believe the existing 30% gross gaming revenue tax, supported by stronger oversight and enforcement, provides a more reliable way for government to collect revenue.”

The operators raised their concerns this week at a meeting with the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, the country’s main business lobby group, led by its executive director, Stephen Asiimwe.

The foundation said it would study the impact of the tax on jobs and businesses to inform an advocacy paper.

According to the operators, the dispute over taxing casino winnings dates back to 1994.

In 2019, the solicitor general said the tax appeared better suited to sports betting than to casinos.

The Uganda Revenue Authority carried out a study visit in 2022, and the following year parliament scrapped the 15% tax on gaming winnings, citing the difficulty of taxing games such as roulette, poker and slots. It raised the tax paid by operators to 30% at the same time.

The issue came up again during consultations in April this year.

Government figures cited by the operators show tax collected from Uganda’s wider gaming sector rose from 17.4bn shillings in 2015-16 to 323bn shillings in 2024-25.

The proposed winnings tax is expected to help raise 65bn shillings in the 2026-27 financial year, according to the association.

It is asking the government to show how much of that would come from sports betting, online gaming and land-based casinos, and whether the new tax would bring in more than the sector might lose in existing taxes.

The operators also want the government to complete the international comparisons and consultations discussed in April, and to set up a joint technical working group to design a workable system.

Until then, they say, casino winnings should not be taxed at the point of cash-out.