Gambling industry to be hit by more taxes in Colombia
The national government will present a reform with changes in taxes, such as income tax, to reduce the fiscal deficit. The Minister of Finance, Germán Ávila Plazas, announced that the government will introduce a new tax reform in July, aiming to raise equivalent to one percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The proposal will be submitted to Congress at the end of the current legislative session and at the beginning of the next session, with the goal of implementing the necessary adjustments by 2025.
As part of the reform there are plans to increase taxes on gambling although what form these taxes will take has yet to be announced.
“We have identified, for example, the vaping sector and gambling as some of the sectors that currently pay taxes and for which it is necessary to impose a (additional) tax burden,” Ávila said.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently released the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF). This document establishes a plan for return and monitoring after the temporary suspension of the fiscal rule, a measure that will allow for a controlled deviation from fiscal goals. According to Ávila, this decision aims to prevent economic contraction while implementing the necessary adjustments.
Key points of the tax reform include the review of VAT exemptions, the tariff structure of income tax for individuals and corporations, and the inclusion of carbon taxes, consumption taxes, and other externalities such as online gambling, vaping, pesticides, and noise.
The Colombian Federation of Entrepreneurs in Games of Chance and Luck has already raised concerns regarding Decree 0572, which requires advance collection of withholding tax for 2026, starting from May 29, 2025. This new requirement adds to the already existing 19% VAT on online games that was introduced earlier in 2025 to address a public order emergency in Catatumbo.
