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Colombia’s Constitutional Court has annulled a 19% VAT (IVA) that was imposed on online betting under the 2025 “economic‑emergency” regime, effectively scrapping the extra tax on wagers placed through digital platforms.
The Court declared Decree 1474 of 2025 inapplicable because it exceeded the legal limits of emergency‑economy powers and did not satisfy constitutional requirements for such extraordinary levies. As a result, the 19% rate on betting is removed and the tax treatment of online gambling reverts to the previous VAT framework.
The ruling also requires the Colombian tax authority, DIAN, to design refund mechanisms for the VAT collected on online betting during the period the decree was in force.
Government estimates indicate that a significant portion collected under the measure came from the gambling and betting sector. Refunds are not automatic: only taxpayers who can prove they actually bore the tax burden—typically legal‑entity operators or registered businesses that paid the VAT on their bets or platform transactions—will be eligible to claim their money back.
In November, Colombia’s Senate rejected the tax‑reform proposal promoted by President Gustavo Petro, which represented a significant setback for the Executive. Crucially, the reform would have made the 19% Value Added Tax (VAT) on online gambling permanent.
However, in December, Colombian Finance Minister Germán Ávila confirmed that the government would implement new taxes and tax adjustments in response to the economic emergency caused by the recent funding shortfall, a consequence of the failure of the financing law in Congress. After declaring a 30‑day state of economic emergency on December 22, Petro published decrees introducing the new taxes a week later.
