Chile's Senate publishes online betting bill proposals with 22% tax
Regulation3 min read
In brief
- Chile's Senate published a 287-page bulletin dated 26 October with 172 new government amendments to the online betting bill.
- The proposals confirm a 22% tax regime, a 1,000-unit annual licence charge and a 3,000-unit transitional enabling right.
- Transitional licensees could keep pre-law advertising contracts for up to one year, with television and radio ads limited to 22:00–6:00.
- None of the measures is approved legislation; the amendments go to the Senate Economy Committee.
Chile's Senate has published the full bulletin of amendments to the bill regulating online betting platforms, dated 26 October and running to 287 pages. The document sets out 172 new amendments from the government of José Antonio Kast that were not in the previous bulletin of 16 October, according to the Senate bulletin. None of the measures is approved legislation yet, and the final wording will depend on parliamentary proceedings.
The bulletin confirms a specific tax regime of 22%, operating licences carrying an annual charge of 1,000 monthly tax units, and an enabling right of 3,000 units for operators applying for a transitional licence. Value added tax of 19% would apply to the positive difference between amounts staked and prizes paid, plus an additional 3% tax on the same base.
Under the fourth transitional article, operators that have already carried on activity in Chile must declare and regularise the tax corresponding to the 36 months before the declaration. Compliance must be shown through payment or a current agreement with the Treasury in order to apply for a licence, and taxes already declared and paid may be offset.
The main clarification concerns the general advertising ban, which applies to platforms with or without a licence. Article 41 sets out the ban, but a new twelfth transitional article creates an exception for operators that have obtained a transitional licence and hold advertising contracts signed before publication of the law. Those contracts may run until expiry, for no more than one year from the entry into force of the ban.
On television and radio, advertisements may be broadcast only between 22:00 and 6:00. They must carry warnings about the risks of addiction and may not be aimed at minors. Contracts will be terminated without right to compensation when the conditions set out in the text are met.
The text states that the ban would begin to apply 30 days after publication of the resolution by the Superintendencia confirming that all applications for transitional licences have been decided.
Physical casinos would be allowed to offer bets from online platforms within their premises, provided this is done through agreements with authorised and certified operators. Gross income from those bets would go to the digital platform. The ban on bonuses and promotional offers intended to attract or retain players is maintained, including when they are not publicly advertised.
The bulletin also records other alternatives for the transitional regime, including a proposal of 73,000 monthly tax units put forward in parliamentary amendments. That amount is not part of the new proposals from Kast's government, which sets an enabling right of 3,000 units to obtain the transitional licence. The 172 government amendments now go to detailed discussion of the bill in the Senate's Economy Committee.