The Ministry of Finance in Chile has proposed new regulations for the online gambling and sports betting sectors. The new technical measures come in response to recent advancements in Bill 035/2022, which aims to liberalize the state-operated online gaming industry by the end of 2023.
Chile's Economic Commission of the Chamber of Deputies recently completed its review of Bill 035/2022. This was in response to queries from interested parties about the tax framework of the bill. The majority approved the proposal, voting 9 against 3.
After this review, the bill was allowed to advance to other legislative steps for discussion and review. If the legislators approve it, the proposal will move to its final stage, which is approval by the federal government of Chile. The bill will likely sail through this phase, setting the stage for the launch of the country's legal sports betting and online casino games.
The country's Ministry of Finance proposed the initial bill in March 2022. It has since released a new technical advisory document stating its preferred measures to support tax generation, market integrity, and commercial standards.
The regulations propose creating the Superintendency of Casinos (SCJ) office to supervise the licensing procedure for gambling operators. The body will also monitor and audit new online gambling sites in the country.
The recently approved bill seeks to compel new legal online gambling sites to use a “.cl” domain. The government says these platforms must comply with international data security and transparency standards.
Meanwhile, there is a proposal by the Ministry of Finance to introduce a 1% tax charge known as a "responsible gaming contribution rate." All licensed operators will pay this rate from their yearly gross income, and the money will help fund programs for public healthcare and problem gambling.
As for gamblers, the Ministry had initially proposed a 15% tax rate on player wins. Thankfully, the Ministry has revised this clause, advising gamblers to submit their total gaming returns annually to the Chilean tax authority (SII).
The gambling and betting licenses won't come cheap as the measures propose a licensing cost of 10,000 UTMs. This is the currency unit used by Chile's government to measure inflation in relation to the Peso.
In addition, the final proposal would impose VAT on sports betting websites. It states that 2% of the tax revenue could fund Chile's National Sports Federation. The government anticipates raising 89 billion Pesos (£87.6 million) from these tax revisions.
Lastly, the government will publish the names of payment service providers (PSPs) in the industry. These payment options will exclusively handle financial transactions for Chile's online gambling market.
