Chile's government has kept the licensing framework for online betting and proposed five-year licences, alongside a ban on advertising by licensed and unlicensed operators. The Senate economy committee began examining the amendments on 27 October.
The package replaces amendments left by the previous administration. Finance Undersecretary Sebastián Vallebona presented the advertising prohibition, which covers those commissioning, producing, distributing or facilitating promotional material. Existing contracts held by transitional licensees may run for up to a year, but only outside hours set aside for protecting minors.
Tax and fees
Operators would pay 19% VAT on the monthly difference between stakes and prizes, plus a further 3% on the same base. The Finance Ministry puts the effective rate at 22%. Licensees would also owe an annual fee of 1,000 monthly tax units (UTM).
The proposal drops the earlier 20% gambling tax and the separate 2% contribution for sport and 1% for responsible gambling. Sport and harm prevention would be funded from the national budget instead, with minimum additional allocations guaranteed for three years.
Transitional route
Existing operators applying for transitional permission would pay 3,000 UTM and show that digital VAT accrued over the preceding 36 months has been settled or placed on an agreed payment plan. That replaces a proposed 31% retrospective levy. Paying in full would extinguish liabilities from earlier non-compliance on declared operations.
Companies that ran without authorisation in the preceding 12 months would ordinarily be barred from definitive licences; the transitional regime carves out an exception. Definitive applicants need a Chilean company, minimum capital of 5,000 UTM and a .cl domain.
Safeguards include segregated player funds, withdrawals within 24 hours without fees, default deposit and playing-time limits, and restrictions on promotional bonuses. Payment intermediaries would have to reject transactions involving platforms the regulator lists as unlicensed.
The bill was introduced in March 2022, spent almost two years in the Chamber of Deputies and reached the Senate in late 2023. It still has to clear the finance committee after the economy committee.
