Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube says the sports betting, lottery and casino industry has been growing fast, with revenues rising by about 8–10% between 2023 and 2024.
Presenting the 2026 National Budget at the New Parliament in Mt Hampden on Thursday, 27 November, Ncube said the booming sector is still losing the government significant revenue because of profit-shifting and under-declaration by operators.
He warned that despite strong growth, “widespread profit-shifting and under-declaration have resulted in under-taxation of a rapidly expanding sector.” Said Ncube:
“To promote responsible behaviour and ensure fairness of the taxation system, I propose to extend the Bookmakers Tax to all licensed bookmakers, lotteries and casino operators.”
He also proposed hiking the Bookmakers Tax from 3% to 20% of gross revenues. This will now act as a final tax, meaning operators won’t have to pay Corporate Income Tax on top.
Last year, Ncube introduced a 10% tax on winnings, but he now plans to raise it to 25% – so for every dollar a punter wins, 25 cents will go straight to ZIMRA.
To put this in perspective, here’s how Zimbabwe’s new betting taxes stack up internationally: the UK announced this week that its remote gaming duty will jump from 21% to 40% next April, while the general betting duty rises from 15% to 25% in 2027.
South Africa has proposed a new 20% tax on online betting firms, on top of existing 6–9% taxes, taking the total to 26–29%.
Meanwhile, Zambia recently slapped a 10% excise duty on betting, causing some operators, including Betway, to suspend operations in protest.
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