Taxation of betting firms will surely cripple local football
The chickens have finally come home to roost. We were always afraid that this government hates sports with a passion and now we are vindicated.
Even with the promises to build stadia in all the 47 counties in this country and giving us a frighteningly spineless man to be Cabinet Secretary for sports we still harboured some hope that perhaps we were mistaken. Now we know and can shout it from the rooftops: they aim to kill all sports and they want to start with football!
The Treasury - and nothing good for sports has ever come from that place - in its budget proposal on March 30 delivered by the CS for National Treasury Henry Rotich sought to introduce a uniform 50 per cent tax across board on betting, lottery, gaming and competition from the current 7.5 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
The new proposal means that the industry will be taxed half of its gross earnings before expenses and thereafter subjected to a further 30 percent tax on net profit after deducting all other expenses. Additionally, the industry is still subject to other statutory taxes such as withholding tax, and Pay As You Earn. If adapted, the implications are clear: a complete business shutdown will result.
One may wonder why we have repeatedly begged government to consider the betting industry and this crazy tax but wonder no more. We are in it because it is the only lifeline that at the moment that cobbles up our cash-strapped sports in the country! The betting firms are the only source of revenue for most of the KPL teams and even others in the lower-tier leagues; they are the only ones that have at least made it possible for our national team to play in England with other teams and get some experience; they are the ones that foot the bills for Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards, Mathare United, Sofapaka, Football Kenya Federation, Kenyan Premier League, Extreme Sports, Boxing, Rugby and many other sports that the government forgot about a long time ago!
When we consider the departure of SuperSport from televising our matches live, then the whole issue becomes clear. SuperSport was one of the best things to ever happen to Kenyan football.
It brought in money and pulled us from anonymity into the world stage. With it many players got to be seen and gain lucrative contracts in this terra firma! They had to leave us like fish on a deck!
Panting for lack of air in the air! The only thing that has seen us through has been the sponsorship from the betting firms and now the rather insane people at Treasury have decided to cut that out too. They must be really smiling and patting each other on the back! They have won and the president of the country must be a very happy man since they must have done this evil for him!
They must be burning incense and drinking the tears of footballers, commentators, writers, coaches, physicians and even the children of all these thousands of people whose livelihood depends on football. Rotich shall really be thrilled when the little daughter of a footballer is sent away from some kindergarten for lack of fees!
Last week, all the teams and associations sponsored by the betting industry received letters of termination of contract depending upon the passing of the Bill. Their only weapon that remains is to cross fingers that some MPs sees this gross anomaly and corrects it before passing that Bill. It was some MPs who began this witch-hunt. Some of them have already been dropped in party primaries and that tells us God is on our side!
Others shall also fall with a thud. Rubbing insult into injury, Treasury ogres tell us that proceeds from this ill-thought tax will be put into a newly created National Sports, culture and Arts fund to support the development of sports and blah blah blah!
Haven’t we seen the youth fund and Women Enterprise Fund? Where is Sh8 billion allocated to Sports Ministry? Why must he create another bureaucratic institution to fizzle away the money for sports?
