President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is yet to assent to a newly passed bill by Parliament that seeks to generate a 10% tax income on sports betting, lottery, and game of chance winnings.

The tax has stirred controversy among citizens, particularly among the youth who rely on betting as a source of income.

A trader and patron of sports betting is one of the many individuals who are unhappy with the new tax. He claims that betting is the only job for the youth and that he, personally, relies on his winnings to fill his shop.

Speaking in an opinion segment shared by TV3 on Twitter, the bettor called on the government to cancel the tax, stating that it will only add more burden to an already struggling youth.

However, in his argument, he has stated that if the government is going to tax sports betting, they should rather accept the controversial Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) activities in Ghana and leave sports betting alone.

“Bet is the only source of our income in the country, we survive with the small, small winnings that we are getting from the bet. See the work I’m doing, all is because of bet, that is how come I was able to raise money to stock my shop.

“But for us to stake the bet and you take 10% tax after winning, then that is not fair at all.

"So, if he [Akufo-Addo] wants to do it that way, then he should leave us the bettors alone and if it is the gay that he will accept, we don’t care, so he should leave us to stake our bet with no deductions, we beg the government else we will come after him,” he said.

Parliament passed three new tax measures during an extended sitting on Friday, March 31, 2023.

The three new taxes are the Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.

The bills were presented to Parliament as part of the government's plans to raise about GH¢4 billion annually in domestic revenue mobilization.

They are also crucial to help secure Board Approval for the US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Programme after a staff-level agreement was reached late last year.

The government in justifying the introduction of the taxes said they are critical for recovery from the current economic crisis.

“It is better to pass the LGBTQ bill than the 10% tax on sports betting”#Flowyourmind #TV3GH pic.twitter.com/Lgruq7vnB2

— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) April 7, 2023