TLDR
- The DRC Ministry of Finance says it alone has authority over gambling regulation in the country.
- Ordinance No. 25/293 moved oversight of the sector from the Ministry of Sports and Leisure to the Ministry of Finance.
- Operators have been warned not to pay any department that lacks legal authority to collect fees.
- The DRC’s gambling sector reportedly earned $1.7 billion in revenue last year but paid only about $1 million in taxes.
- The government is building a new monitoring platform and legal framework to improve tax collection from operators.
The Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of Congo has stated it is the only body with authority to oversee the country’s gambling sector.
The statement came in a press release dated August 27. It aimed to clear up who is responsible for regulating gambling in the DRC.
The ministry pointed to Ordinance No. 25/293. This law transferred oversight of gambling from the Ministry of Sports and Leisure to the Ministry of Finance.
According to the ministry, the ordinance ended what it called any institutional confusion over which department controls the sector.
Taxation of Gambling in the DRC
The press release also included a warning for gambling operators. It told them not to comply with payment requests from any department that does not have legal authority to issue them.
Operators were told to report any such requests straight to the Ministry of Finance. They should also report them to the Directorate General of Administrative, Judicial, State Property and Equity Revenues, known as DGRAD.
DGRAD has been given the job of finding and canceling any payment notices that were issued without proper authority.
The Ministry of Finance said any approval, authorization, or payment notice issued without proper authority has no legal effect. Operators are still required to meet their obligations to the country’s treasury.
The statement was signed by Alain Malata Kafunda, chief of staff to the DRC’s finance minister.
Tax Collection Remains a Challenge
The DRC has a population of more than 100 million people. Many in the gambling industry see this as a market with strong potential.
But collecting taxes from that market has been difficult. Last year, DRC Finance Minister Doudou Fwamba said gambling operators generated around $1.7 billion in revenue. Yet they paid only about $1 million in taxes.
One operator CEO told iGaming Business that the tax system works mostly on self reporting. Operators declare how much they owe rather than having it calculated independently.
“Operators do pay, yes, but they pay whatever suits them,” the CEO said. “All the while, the state has no means of monitoring its regulatory policies.”
To address the gap, the DRC Ministry of Finance earlier this year outlined plans for a new centralized platform to monitor gambling activity. The goal is to give the government better insight into operator revenue.
The government is also working on a new legal framework for the gambling industry. It is meant to modernize existing rules and strengthen how taxes are tracked and collected.
