South Africa: Online Gambling Tax Coming As Government Tries to Slow Betting

The National Treasury plans to bring in a new tax on online gambling. The tax would add 20% to the money gambling companies make from online betting.

The Treasury has given the public more time to comment on the plan. The deadline has moved from 30 January to 27 February 2026.

The Treasury calls the proposal a “sin tax”. It compares it to taxes on alcohol and cigarettes. The tax would be paid by gambling companies, not by individual gamblers.

The Treasury says the aim is not only to raise money. It says the tax is meant to reduce gambling addiction and the harm that comes with it.

Gambling has grown fast in South Africa. Figures from the National Gambling Board show total bets reached R1.5-trillion in the 2024/25 financial year. This was a 31.3% increase from the year before.

Most gambling now happens through betting, especially online. Betting makes up 75% of all gambling activity. Money made from betting has grown by 390% in five years to nearly R52 billion.

The new tax would be added to provincial gambling taxes. This would push the total tax rate to between 26% and 29%.

Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana supports the plan. He says gambling is hurting lives and incomes and action is needed.

The Free Market Foundation disagrees. It says online gambling is still illegal under an unfinished 2008 law and should not be taxed.

By Scrolla.