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Cecilia Valdés, president of Chile’s Association of Casinos and Games (ACCJ), has welcomed the government’s latest proposals for regulating online gambling but warned that significant differences in the treatment of land-based and digital operators remain unresolved.
The legislation, currently undergoing its second stage of consideration in the Senate, would introduce a 19 per cent VAT and an additional three per cent tax for online operators. It also proposes a transitional arrangement allowing companies to operate following a one-off payment of 3,000 monthly tax units (UTM), equivalent to approximately US$190,000.
Speaking to Chilean newspaper Diario Financiero, Valdés described the transitional provision as “a pardon for having operated illegally all this time”, arguing that it would favour companies already active in the market without authorisation. The provision replaces an earlier proposal for a cooling-off period intended to establish more equitable conditions for new entrants.
“We want competition to enter, but real, fair competition, from serious companies. That is the most important thing,” Valdés said. Taxation remains another point of contention. Chile’s 17 licensed land-based casinos currently pay a 20 per cent tax on gross gaming revenue, alongside an admission charge of 0.07 UTM per visitor and an additional one per cent contribution towards responsible gambling programmes.
Valdés described the proposed online tax structure as “an absurdity”, arguing that it would create an imbalance between operators competing for the same customers. “There is a complete asymmetry and that is very difficult,” she said. “We are taxing a new industry without even contemplating viability for the industry that is currently in force and paying taxes not only to the Treasury but also to municipalities and regional governments.”
The ACCJ has also questioned provisions allowing land-based casinos to enter the online market through agreements with licensed digital betting platforms. Valdés said this approach “is not the most competitive for the industry”, suggesting that existing casino operators should have more direct opportunities to obtain online authorisation.
Chile’s online gambling legislation, identified as Bill 14.838-03, has been under consideration for more than four years. The government’s latest amendments, submitted in October 2026, propose five-year licences and an annual authorisation fee of 1,000 UTM.
The ACCJ maintains that the eventual framework must establish comparable competitive conditions for land-based and online operators while providing appropriate safeguards for consumers and measures against money laundering.
