Uganda plans a single state-operated gambling payment gateway, with penalties for non-compliance and new taxes from July 1, 2026

Uganda is moving to route all gambling payments through one centralised gateway licensed by the Bank of Uganda and linked to the Uganda Revenue Authority’s electronic payment systems. For operators, the issue is not just tax visibility; it is what happens when compliance, settlement flow and market viability all get pulled into the same policy package.

1. Under the proposed Tax Procedures Code (Amendment) Bill, 2025, all casinos, sportsbooks and other gambling entities would have to process bets and winnings through a single, centralised payment gateway. The government’s stated aim is straightforward: more tax transparency, less leakage, and less room for underdeclaration.
2. The gateway would be licensed by the Bank of Uganda and linked to the Uganda Revenue Authority’s (URA) electronic payment systems. In practice, that gives the URA real-time access to taxable transaction data, which is exactly the point if the concern is that licensed operators are not reporting every bet and payout the way the tax authorities expect.
3. The National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (NLGRB) has raised concerns about money laundering and terrorism financing, alongside high levels of illegal gambling, particularly in rural regions. That combination is what is pushing policymakers toward a structural fix rather than a lighter-touch reporting tweak.
4. State minister for finance Henry Musasizi has said non-compliance will carry significant penalties. Operators that fail to use the centralised payment gateway will pay double the gaming or withholding tax due, or UGX110m (€26,268).
5. From July 1st 2026, Uganda plans to impose a 30% tax on gross gaming revenue and a 15% withholding tax on player winnings. Innocent Davis Bamurike, founder and chief executive officer of an African sportsbook set to launch, said smaller and newer operators may reassess the market as the combined burden makes early-stage viability harder to show, and that for some the pressure “continues until a point of exit”.

Bamurike also noted that the policy has been in discussion for years and that the goal has always been to reduce tax leakages from suspected underdeclarations by operators. The catch for PSPs and acquiring partners is obvious: once the state controls the payment rail, the payment flow becomes part of the regulatory perimeter, not just the commercial one.