Sports Minister designate Kofi Adams has told JoySports that the government is considering maintaining the twenty percent withholding tax paid by betting companies, as a revenue source for the soon-to-be-created Sports Fund.

Speaking on Joy FM's Saturday afternoon program Sports Link, Mr. Adams first reiterated the government's commitment to fulfilling the campaign promise of creating a central fund for sports.

''The promise by the NDC to establish a sports fund this time around, must be worked on. Whether it is going to be through a sports lottery, whether it is going be through taking percentages of some taxes, that already exists,''

He then added that the government would consider diverting the 20% withholding tax remitted by betting companies into the central fund.

''For example, people have proposed that there are some taxes on sports betting activities that is generally emanating from sports so a percentage of the tax that the state gets from sports betting should go into the fund to support sports.''

''(That is) because the more the sports grow, the bigger the tax component that also comes to the state that can be placed into a fund can help in growing what will feed the state more, why not? That is one option that has been looked at,'' he concluded.

In August 2024, President John Dramani Mahama, then candidate of the National Democratic Congress NDC), promised to scrap the 10% withholding tax on betting winnings. This tax was introduced by the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government in August 2023 to replace the 15% Value Added Tax on betting stakes.

The NDC's argument has been that the 20% paid to the government from betting companies' Gross Gaming Revenue means there is no need to burden Ghanaians with the additional 10% on winnings.

In September 2023, Edward Gyambra of the Domestic Tax Revenue Division of the GRA said the authority recorded GH₵ 15 million as monthly betting taxes, and projected that by the end of the football season, the amount could appreciate to GH₵ 60 million.

''During the first month of implementation, we averaged GH¢20 million for the GGR. As for the withholding tax, we’ve just started the betting season, but during the lean season, we averaged GH¢15 million. We anticipate this to quadruple by May,” he concluded.

By September 2024, the GRA projected to receive GH₵ 1.2 billion ($78.4 million) in betting taxes.

Meanwhile, Ghana's entire sports budget for the year 2024, was GH₵ 195,795,973, the equivalent of $12.8 million.