Tanzania to impose 5% excise duty on betting stakes from 1 July 2026

Tanzania’s Ministry of Finance has added a 5% excise duty on betting stakes to the 2026/27 budget, with the government targeting an extra TZS74.5 billion ($28.4 million) in revenue. For PSPs and operators active in Tanzania, the useful detail is that the tax applies to the value of bets across land-based and online sports betting, casino gaming, forty-machine slot games and virtual games.

1. The announcement came from Tanzania’s Minister of Finance, Khamis Mussa Omar, earlier this month as he presented the new financial year budget. The 2026/27 fiscal year begins on 1 July.
2. The budget introduces a 5% excise duty on “the value of bets in gambling activities, including land-based or online/internet sports betting, land-based or online/internet casino gaming, forty-machine slot games and virtual games operations”. In other words, this is not limited to one vertical or one channel.
3. The government says the measure should raise TZS74.5 billion ($28.4 million). Of that revenue, 10% will go to the Gaming Board of Tanzania “to improve efficiency and regulation of gambling activities”, with the stated aim of reducing the consequences of gambling addiction in the country.
4. The minister also linked gambling to labour-market effects, saying it was in some cases contributing to a decline in Tanzania’s workforce “due to a number of youths engaging in these activities instead of productive economic pursuits”.
5. On current market data, Tanzania generated $463.3 million in gross win from gambling in 2025, according to H2 Gambling Capital. H2 estimates the market will grow to over $1 billion by the end of 2031, with online accounting for $918.9 million of that total. H2 also puts black-market share of Tanzania’s interactive gross win in 2025 at 4.5%.

The regional backdrop matters here. Uganda introduced a 30% harmonised tax for both betting and gaming earlier this year, plus a 15% burden on net winnings. Kenya last year imposed a 5% charge on betting wallet withdrawals and a 5% excise tax on deposits. In Nigeria’s Lagos State, the government introduced an immediate 5% withholding tax on player winnings in February this year. For operators and payment providers, the pattern is straightforward: more tax points, more pressure on margins, and more reason to check how each market actually taxes the transaction flow.