South Africa’s National Treasury is moving ahead with a proposal to impose a 20% national tax on gross gambling revenue from online betting, a levy that would sit on top of existing provincial gambling taxes and could still be written into draft legislation later this year.
That position is now drawing a loud response from the licensed market. Bookmakers and critics say the proposal risks landing hardest on regulated operators that already pay provincial duties and VAT, while offshore and unlicensed offerings remain unaffected.
the Treasury says online betting now needs its own national levy
The Treasury’s case is that online gambling has grown too fast to leave the current tax setup untouched. In its discussion paper, it says a 20% national levy on gross gambling revenue would raise more than R10 billion at current activity levels, while also helping to curb problem gambling.
The numbers in the same paper show why the Treasury is focused on betting. It says betting made up 75% of gambling turnover in 2024/25, and that online betting accounted for more than 85.5% of betting gross gambling revenue.
Bookmakers say the Treasury is understating the real burden
The Treasury says the new levy would lift the combined tax rate on online betting to about 26% to 29% once provincial taxes are included. But the South African Bookmakers’ Association says that leaves out VAT, which licensed operators already pay on gross gambling revenue.
SABA says the current effective burden is already about 18% to 19%, and that adding a 20% national levy would push it to roughly 38% to 39%. The group says that would hit legal bookmakers, retail networks and related industries far harder than the headline 20% figure suggests.
The money would go into general revenue, not a social fund
The argument has become more intense because the Treasury is not planning to ringfence the money for treatment or responsible gambling programs. Christopher Axelson, the Treasury’s deputy director-general for tax and financial sector policy, told local media the proceeds would go into the national revenue fund instead.
That distinction is concerning as the Treasury has sold the tax to the public mainly as a way to deal with the social cost of gambling, not just as a revenue stream for the general government fund. Critics say that case is harder to defend when the money is not set aside for consumer protection or treatment. Especially in South Africa, where corruption levels are high.
Draft legislation is the next step in the process
The consultation period was first due to close on 30 January, but the the Treasury extended it to 27 February after requests from stakeholders. The 2026 Budget Review says the next step is a workshop with commenters, followed by draft legislation for public comment later this year.
So the tax is still in a live policy phase, not a settled change. The next question is whether the the Treasury softens the model after consultation, or keeps moving with a structure that the licensed market says would punish the regulated side of the industry more than the unregulated one.
