Chile is changing its gambling regulations, one of which is allowing online gambling. Ley N035/2022, the new measure, was presented in March 2022 with the intention of...
Chile approves the bill to regulate online gambling market
The Chilean Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved the bill to regulate the online gambling and betting sector. The initiative is put to a vote in the Upper House.
If approved, a period will be opened for submitting modifications and then continuing its processing, particularly in the Economy and Finance Committees.
The bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in December 2023. Upon advancing to the Senate, the bill was sent to both the Economy and Finance Committees, as well as technical committees. The Senate Finance Committee approved the initiative in general terms in April 2024 and in July 2025 took up the matter.
Among the objectives of the project are “to protect the health and safety of those who gamble” and “to create conditions that allow for a competitive market between these and the currently legal forms of gambling,” such as the Chilean Charity Lottery, the Concepción Lottery, casinos, and horse racing.
Heidi Berner, Undersecretary of Finance, addressed the comments made by representatives of iGaming companies and defended the tax burden proposed in the text, which includes a 19% Value Added Tax (VAT).
She elaborated:
“We carried out an exercise with the Superintendency of Gaming Casinos based on public information from the financial statements of some of the large betting platform companies operating in different parts of the world, and including the 19% VAT, we find that the tax burden does not exceed 28%. The legislative debate will resolve whether the levy should be this or any other.
The way in which this tax burden is being calculated incorporates generally applicable taxes such as VAT, which operates with a credit and debit rule necessary to generate income. Furthermore, we believe that we cannot incorporate exceptions to this tax, given that we apply VAT to all digital services, whether from local or foreign providers.”
Regarding responsible gambling, Berner highlighted that the goal is to prevent children and youngsters from gambling, so one of the main objectives is to incorporate rules allowing the blocking of platforms and restrictions on gambling and betting, including biometric identification, payment method blocks, and other technological tools.
The Chilean government official also noted that “all incumbent actors have requested lobbying hearings to propose or suggest amendments to the bill.”
The Chilean authorities have officially legislated a law, banning slot machine usage except for in the territory of casinos
