Tanzania Ministry of Finance introduces a 5% Excise Duty on Betting Stakes for the Fiscal Year 2026/27.
The Tanzania Ministry of Finance has introduced a 5% excise duty on betting stakes for the country’s 2026/27 financial year.
Khamis Mussa Omar Tanzania’s Minister of Finance announced earlier this month, as he outlined the upcoming budget for the new financial year. The budget gets under way on 1 July.
The budget will impose 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”.
Tanzania’s government expects the new tax to increase its revenue by TZS74.5 billion ($28.4 million).
Some 10% of the revenue generated by the tax will go to the Gaming Board of Tanzania. He said this will be used to “to improve efficiency and regulation of gambling activities”, with the aim to reduce the consequences of gambling addiction in the country.
The minister’s announcement also noted that gambling was in some cases leading to a decline in Tanzania’s workforce. Youths a now engaging in gambling rather than perusing productive economic pursuits.
The Half a Billion Dollar Empire that is the Tanzania Gambling Ecosystem!
According to the latest data from H2 Gambling Capital, Tanzania generated $463.3 million in gross win from gambling in 2025.
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H2 estimates gambling in Tanzania will grow to a gross win of over $1 billion by the end of 2031, with online accounting for $918.9 million of that figure.
While the new excise duty may raise concerns about a rise in illegal gambling, it is worth noting that, according to H2’s data, only 4.5% of Tanzania’s interactive gross win in 2025 was from the black market.
