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The Member of Parliament for Okaikwei Central, Patrick Yaw Boamah, has apologised to the public after former finance minister Mohammed Amin Adams claimed that the previous government did not implement the betting tax.
The NPP MP clarified that the former finance minister's comments were misunderstood due to miscommunication, and the party will address the matter soon.
In an interview with Lawson TV, Boamah emphasised that the former finance minister had not made a mistake, but the issue was caused by poor communication.
There is an issue, and we will go into it by explaining our position. I don’t speak for him, but I believe there was a communication gap, which I hope he will address in his engagement with the press. I apologise to the youth for the miscommunication.
We have betting, casinos, football bets, and more. The 10% withholding tax on gaming, often referred to as the betting tax, exists. However, the tax on winnings, which Amin Adams sought to explain, was never implemented.
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Former Finance Minister’s Comments
Former Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adams has firmly denied that the previous administration ever collected a 10% tax on betting.
This statement followed the 2025 budget presentation by the current Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, on March 11, 2025.
During his budget address to Parliament, Dr. Forson announced the government's plan to abolish the 10% withholding tax on betting, a move designed to reduce financial pressures on citizens, particularly the youth.
Dr. Forson said that removing this tax, along with other levies, would improve the disposable income of Ghanaians, ease the burden on households, and support business growth, all while improving tax compliance.
However, in a post-budget interview with the press, former Minister Adams denied that the previous government had ever introduced or collected such a tax.
Ladies and gentlemen, the betting tax they said that they had abolished, we never collected. We never implemented the betting tax, so to come and tell Ghanaians you have abolished something that was never implemented is to deceive the people of Ghana.
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This statement has sparked considerable controversy and raised questions about the whereabouts of funds that were allegedly collected under the betting tax scheme.