Forget tax reprieve, Ruto tells SportPesa
Deputy President William Ruto has told betting firm SportPesa to forget about a tax reprieve from the government.
He spoke on Wednesday evening at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA) gala night.
“Paying taxes is a must, it is non-negotiable,” he said.
The giant betting firm has withdrawn all sponsorship deals with sporting clubs and national teams to protest the 35 per cent tax imposed on revenues of betting firms.
The sponsorship deals were valued at Sh600 million a year.
Mr Ruto also indicated that the government has set aside Sh500 million to replace the deals to finance all sporting associations crippled by SportPesa’s pullout.
SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri had last week said he was keen to negotiate a reprieve on the new taxes.