Betting tax in Kenya 2026: 5% on deposits, 5% on withdrawals

Kenyan betting tax was overhauled in 2025 under the Finance Act 2025 and the Gambling Control Act 2025. The headline changes: the 20% withholding tax on winnings was scrapped and replaced by a flat 5% withdrawal excise; a new 5% deposit excise was introduced; and the long-standing stake excise was removed. The regulator changed too — the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) was replaced by the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) under the new Act.

The two taxes that apply to bettors

1. Deposit excise, 5% on every deposit

New under the Finance Act 2025. When you fund your betting wallet from M-PESA via a paybill, 5% of the deposit amount goes to KRA as excise duty. The operator deducts this before the deposit lands in your wallet.

For a KES 100 M-PESA deposit, KES 5 is taken as deposit excise; KES 95 lands in your betting wallet. (The M-PESA paybill fee is a separate cost on top.)

2. The stake — no separate excise

When you place a bet, the operator stakes the full wallet amount you commit. There is no separate stake-level excise deducted at the moment of placement. If you have KES 95 in your wallet and stake all of it, the effective stake is KES 95.

This is the most-confused part of Kenyan betting tax. Many articles — including older versions of guides on this very topic — describe a 5% (or, under the pre-2025 regime, a 15%) stake excise. The reliable reference is what the operator actually deducts. See our dedicated explainer for the 2-minute test that settles it.

3. Withdrawal excise, 5% on every withdrawal

New under the Finance Act 2025. When you withdraw from your betting wallet to M-PESA or bank, 5% of the withdrawal amount goes to KRA. This applies regardless of whether the withdrawal represents profit, your original stake, or both.

Critically: this replaces the previous 20% withholding tax on winnings. Under the old regime, only winnings above KES 5,000 attracted withholding (at 20%). Under the new regime, every withdrawal attracts 5%, but the rate is much lower.

Worked examples

Example 1: small loss

You deposit KES 200 from M-PESA. Deposit excise: 5% × KES 200 = KES 10. Wallet balance after deposit: KES 190. You stake the full KES 190 at odds 2.0. The bet loses. Wallet balance falls to KES 0. Total cost to you on the failed bet: KES 200 (the M-PESA paybill fee on the deposit was a separate expense).

Example 2: small win

Same setup, but the bet wins. Stake KES 190 × 2.0 = KES 380 returned to wallet. You withdraw the KES 380 to M-PESA. Withdrawal excise: 5% × KES 380 = KES 19. Net to M-PESA: KES 361. Of your original KES 200 deposit, you're up KES 161 net — versus the old 20% withholding regime where a small winning below the KES 5,000 threshold escaped withholding but a 15% stake excise applied first.

Example 3: big win

You deposit KES 5,000. Deposit excise: KES 250. Wallet: KES 4,750. Stake the full KES 4,750 at odds 8.0. Bet wins. Gross return to wallet: KES 4,750 × 8.0 = KES 38,000. You withdraw the KES 38,000 to M-PESA. Withdrawal excise: 5% × KES 38,000 = KES 1,900. Net to M-PESA: KES 36,100.

Compare to the old regime: under the 15% stake excise + 20% withholding above KES 5,000, the same bet would have netted materially less — the 15% stake excise alone took KES 750 off the top before the bet even ran, and the 20% withholding then hit the winnings. The new regime is meaningfully more generous to bettors, especially on bigger wins.

Example 4: accumulator

You deposit KES 1,050. Deposit excise: KES 52.50. Wallet: KES 997.50. Place an 8-leg accumulator at combined odds of 100, staking the full KES 997.50. The accumulator lands. Gross return: KES 99,750. Withdraw — withdrawal excise 5% = KES 4,987.50. Net to M-PESA: KES 94,762.50.

The effective tax rate on a typical bettor

Under the two-excise regime, on a deposit-stake-withdraw cycle:

• Deposit KES 100 → wallet receives KES 95 (5% deposit excise)
• Stake the KES 95 in full → no stake excise
• If you win and withdraw the proceeds → 5% withdrawal excise on the amount withdrawn

For a single losing bet: total tax burden is the 5% deposit excise — 5% of the original deposit, before the bet runs.

For a winning bet with withdrawal: deposit excise + withdrawal excise. The withdrawal excise scales with the win size, so the all-in effective rate depends on the odds. For a typical 2.0-odds win, the combined burden is roughly 10% of the original deposit.

Compared to the old 15% stake excise + 20% withholding regime, most bettors are better off under the new rates — the removal of the stake excise and the replacement of 20% withholding with 5% both work in the bettor's favour. The one new cost is the deposit excise, which heavy losers feel most.

What operators pay

Beyond the bettor-side taxes, operators pay:

• 15% Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) tax, payable monthly to KRA. GGR = stakes received minus winnings paid out.
• 1% monthly addiction-rehab levy on gross revenue, new under the Gambling Control Act 2025, ring-fenced for funding gambling-addiction rehabilitation programs.
• 30% corporate income tax on operator profit.
• Standard PAYE and VAT on operator staff and procurement.

These don't hit the bettor directly, but they affect the odds operators offer. A higher operator-side tax burden tends to push odds slightly less generous over time.

New regulatory rules under the Gambling Control Act 2025

Beyond taxes, the Act introduced several player-protection and operator-conduct rules:

• Minimum bet of KES 20 on online platforms, intended to discourage micro-stake reckless betting.
• KES 200 million security deposit required from online betting operators as a condition of licence.
• Advertising restrictions: celebrity and influencer endorsements of gambling are banned. Adverts must include responsible-gambling warnings and the GRA helpline.
• National ID + live selfie verification required for all bettor accounts. Operators face penalties for allowing under-18 betting.
• GRA replaces BCLB as the licensing and supervisory authority. See our GRA explainer.

How betting tax has changed in Kenya

• Pre-2018: light tax regime; market grew rapidly with limited consumer protection.
• 2019: 20% excise on stakes introduced. 20% withholding on winnings. Mass migration to offshore operators.
• 2020: stake excise temporarily reduced to 7.5%.
• 2021-2024: stake excise restored to 15%, plus 20% withholding on winnings above KES 5,000.
• 2025 (Finance Act 2025): the stake excise was removed; a new 5% deposit excise was introduced; the 20% withholding on winnings was replaced by a flat 5% withdrawal excise.
• 2026 (current): the deposit + withdrawal 5% structure is in effect. GRA replaces BCLB. Gambling Control Act 2025 regulatory rules apply.

Do I declare betting income to KRA?

For individual bettors, the operator-deducted excises (deposit, withdrawal) satisfy the tax obligation at source. No additional declaration is required for winnings already taxed via the withdrawal route. KRA may still ask for a source-of-funds explanation for very large irregular gains (e.g., when buying property), in which case operator tax certificates are the relevant evidence.

For bettors using offshore operators that don't apply Kenyan tax, technically you owe Kenyan income tax on net winnings. KRA enforcement on this is light for individual bettors but increasingly cross-referenced with bank inflows.

Bottom line

Two 5% excise deductions for bettors — on deposits and on withdrawals. The biggest behavioural implication: the deposit excise means every shilling you put into a betting wallet is already 5% smaller before any bet. The smartest financial response is the same as always — set a small deposit limit on your operator and stick to it. Lower deposits mean lower aggregate tax burden and lower aggregate losses.

For more on healthy use, the GRA helpline (0800 222 333), and self-exclusion, read our responsible gambling guide.

One GRA-licensed operator we cover in depth (ownership disclosed) is Radabet; see our signup guide and the Radabet hub for the paybill, deposit flow, and how the same 5 percent deposit and withdrawal excises are applied on that operator.

Resources

• The "5% on every stake" confusion, cleared up
• Betting payout calculator
• Responsible gambling, limits, signs, support
• GRA, what replaced BCLB
• Betika Kenya hub
• KRA, Kenya Revenue Authority
• GRA, Gambling Regulatory Authority