Legislation
Chile – Unregulated online gambling stands at CLP$ 17bn says head of tax office
By James - 3 October 2023
The head of Chile’s tax office has told the Economy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies that once online gambling is regulated that licensed sites could generate around CLP$ 5bn in taxes once Chile’s new gambling law is enacted.
The information was provided by the director of the Internal Revenue Service, Hernán Frigolett, who argued that the figure is based on the information they have from the financial system and the volume of business that is being handled which today stands at “around $17 billion” in Chile.
Frigolett said that making an estimate “in terms of what the margins are, discounting the prizes paid, etc., we could have a floor that is around $1.4 billion,” he said.
“Based on some information from the industry that is operating illegally in Chile, and the payments that are registered in the financial system, we are talking about a possibility of collection that could reach 4,500 and 5,000 million pesos,” he said.
The government has reiterated its intention to accelerate the process to regulate online betting after the latest decision by the Supreme Court which ruled that online gambling sites operating in Chile were illegal.
The Economy Commission of the Chamber of Deputies has been tasked with analysing the project to establish a regulatory framework for the online gambling sector. According to local press around 80 per cent of the articles have been approved so far. New regulations would ban the gaming board from granting licenses to any online operator which has been present in the market over the previous twelve months once the bill goes into effect.
