Chile senators propose restricting or banning private online gambling

Chile's Senate is considering competing proposals on online gambling after President José Antonio Kast's government submitted a 114-page package of amendments, while senators put forward alternatives that would restrict the market to the country's existing lottery operators or bar private operators altogether. None of the proposals is described as enacted. The bill is in its second constitutional review in the Senate.

Under the government's plan, private operators could obtain licences lasting five years. Each would owe an annual fee of 1,000 monthly tax units, which the source says is "equivalent to about $77,000 at current rates". Taxation would combine 19% VAT on the gap between stakes and winnings with a further 3% gambling tax. Advertising and promotional bonuses would be banned, and default limits on deposits and playing time would apply. Firms that ran without a licence in Chile in the previous year would usually be excluded from applying, unless they concluded a transitional agreement with the authorities.

Senator Paulina Núñez put forward a counterproposal that would confine online gambling to two existing lottery operators, Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Lotería de Concepción. Neither would be allowed to add new gambling products to its range. The same plan would create criminal sanctions for operators lacking a licence and set up website blocking on a permanent basis against illegal gambling platforms.

Senators Diego Ibáñez and Gastón Saavedra submitted a further counterproposal that would outlaw private online gambling operators entirely. Businesses already registered with Chile's tax authority would have as long as 24 months to stop operating. Under the plan, a platform counts as operating in Chile when it takes bets from users in the country, no matter where its servers or other infrastructure sit. The proposal says violations could bring prison terms of six months to three years plus financial penalties.

First tabled in 2022, the bill cleared a Senate vote in August 2025, with 27 in favour, three against and five abstentions. The source places the debate in a regional context, citing Brazil, where President Lula used Provisional Measure 1,394 to ban gambling, and Buenos Aires in Argentina, which is weighing a similar ban.