SportyBet has returned to Kenya’s online betting market under Dreamhub Technology Limited after resolving tax disputes with the Kenya Revenue Authority, according to media reports. The coverage says the platform has secured the clearances needed to resume operations; it gives no details of the resolution.
The reported return brings SportyBet back into Kenya’s betting market after its disputes with the tax authority.
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Gambling operators must submit annex 5 and pay gambling tax in the month after participation-fee acceptance ends for land-based ring-game tournaments. For remote tournaments, the filing and payment cover the previous taxable period.
An opinion column on a Latin American gaming law site compared gambling tax disputes in the United States and Peru. The US FAIR BET Act would restore full deductions for betting losses; Peru's Congress passed a bill to change how the selective consumption tax applies, but the proposal did not pass again after presidential objections. The columnist said Peru's Constitutional Court had admitted a challenge to the tax for consideration.
US representative Dina Titus has asked the House speaker to include a restoration of full betting-loss deductions in legislation due to pass this year, before taxpayers file their 2026 returns in 2027. In Peru, a bill to change the taxation of remote gambling failed to pass again after presidential objections, while a constitutional challenge has been admitted for consideration, according to Carlos Fonseca, founder and managing partner of Gaming Law Latam.
Betfred has attributed its decision to close 132 retail betting shops partly to higher gambling taxes. HM Treasury said gambling duty rates for high street shops have not changed, disputing the tax argument. The Betting and Gaming Council said the closures showed its warnings about tax increases were materialising.
Star Entertainment said it resolved disputes with the Commissioner of Taxation over GST and withholding tax on past junket payments. The Commissioner refunded AU$33 million of the AU$88 million Star had paid, leaving a AU$55 million charge for the year ended 30 June 2026. The disputes concerned payments made between October 2013 and June 2020.
Kenya Revenue Authority reminded licensed betting and gaming operators that licences for the 2024/2025 financial year expire on 30 June 2025. KRA said its tax clearance is required for Betting Control & Licensing Board renewals and asked operators to update tax records and provide compliance documents.