Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) will challenge the Judgment of the Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) delivered on 6th November 2019 in favour of the Betting firms.

Seven (7) Betting Firms filed Appeals before the TAT challenging KRA’s interpretation of the term “winnings” as was amended by the Finance Act 2018. They also contested KRA’s enforcement mechanism after it enforced collection of 20% Withholding tax on winnings by placing agency notices on the Betting firms’ accounts.

The Tribunal ruled in favour of the Betting Firms and found that the term “winnings” as defined at Section 2 of the Income Tax Act does not include stakes placed by a Punter and that if the legislation intended for winnings to include stakes placed, it would have categorically stated so.

However, KRA disagrees with TAT’s decision for among other reasons, the fact that it departed from the decision by Justice Hatari Waweru’s in a Meru High Court Case in which the Learned Judge had found that there was no ambiguity in interpretation of the term “winnings” as defined by the Income Tax Act. In arriving at its decision, the TAT found that Justice Hatari Waweru’s decision was inapplicable hence not binding on it because it had not delved into the definition of the term “winnings”.

Further, KRA is aggrieved by the Tribunal’s finding that it had no legal backing in demanding Withholding Tax from the Betting Firms and the manner in which it had enforced collection of the tax.
KRA has commenced the appeal process by filing a notice of appeal which it did on 8th November, 2019.

Commissioner for Legal Services & Board Coordination –Paul Matuku