Great news for anyone paying tax in South Africa
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says the National Treasury is proceeding with the design of a new National Online Gambling Tax, with more details on the measure to come in 2027.
However, no new general taxes or changes to the general tax or VAT regime were mentioned.
In his Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), Godongwana said that the discussion paper proposing the new online gambling tax received many submissions.
These submissions “generally recognised the need to address the growth of online gambling and its associated harm.”
According to the Treasury, due to the surge in online gambling and its impact on society, it has been proposed that a 20% tax be applied to gross gambling revenue from online betting.
This includes interactive gambling, which would be in addition to the provincial taxes currently applied.
Over the years, the gambling industry has evolved from traditional forms of gambling to the greater use of online gambling.
This has been influenced by technological advancements and increased access to the internet and electronic communication tools.
Gambling is now easily available online, accessible almost anywhere and at any time.
It has been widely reported that South Africans spent R1.5 trillion on gambling in 2024/25. The figure represents gambling turnover, but does not account for payouts and winnings.
This figure is reflected in gross gambling revenue (GGR), which is much smaller but still growing rapidly.
According to the South African Reserve Bank, GGR in South Africa rose from R26.3 billion in 2015 to R74.5 billion by 2024.
Nevertheless, the growth of sports betting and myriad other digital services that bypass existing restrictions has become a significant concern in the country.
This has prompted the need for a targeted tax regime.
Godongwana said that consultations on the proposed tax are ongoing, focusing on the tax design and its linkages to the existing regulatory framework.
Treasury is also consulting on the tax’s implications for provinces and the currently regulated market.
“An announcement of the final design will be made in the February 2027 Budget,” the minister said.
No other tax measures mentioned
The MTBPS is not typically a revenue-focused budget, and thus, new tax measures are not usually announced.
However, the speech often indicates looming tax measures to come in the 2027 Budget Speech.
For example, Godongwana indicated in the 2025 MTBPS that approximately R20 billion worth of tax measures would be necessary in 2026 if tax collections that year missed targets.
Fortunately for taxpayers, the 2025/26 tax collections were sufficient for the Treasury to nix the looming tax increases and even pass some tax relief on to them in the 2026 Budget Speech.
In the 2026 MTBPS speech, aside from work on the gambling tax, Godongwana gave no indication of tax shortfalls necessitating new tax measures in 2027.
On the contrary, the Finance Minister said the revenue outlook for 2026/27 is stronger than expected, due to higher collections from corporate tax, dividends tax and VAT.
“As a result, gross tax revenue for this year has been revised upwards by R17.1 billion compared with the February estimate,” he said.
A large portion of this improvement is due to higher commodity prices, and these gains are expected
to dissipate over the medium term.
Nevertheless, overall gross tax revenue is projected to increase from R2.14 trillion this year to R2.53 trillion in 2029/30.
Because of the upward revision to revenue collections, no changes to the general tax or VAT regime were mentioned.
Loading ...