Legislation

Peru – Working group wants tax imposed on offshore operators  

By James - 13 February 2023

Locally based sportsbetting organisation the  Asociación Peruana de Apuestas Deportivas (APADELA)  has come out in support of modifications to Peru’s online gambling bill (Law 31557) which was signed by Peru’s President in August last year. However they want changes to how the industry is taxed overall.  

Lawmakers are discussing how the direct tax applied to Net Income (Net Win) of 12% will be collected via Bill 3595/2022. Bill 3595/2022 seeks to ensure that offshore operators also pay the new online gambling tax rate as in its current form Law 31557 only applies to those operators with a physical presence in Peru. This means that locally based operators will be at an unfair advantage once the online gambling bill becomes law.

Bill 3595/2022 is currently in the Economic Commission of the Peruvian Parliament for study and debate and was put forward by Congresswoman Lady Camones in November.

The president of APADELA, Gonzalo Rosell appeared as part of a working group held in the Peruvian Congress to look at Bill 3595/2022 after the bill was referred to the Economic Commission of the Peruvian Parliament for further study and debate. The head of APADELA stated that, among the necessary modifications to the current legal framework, was the application that the special tax would only be imposed on companies domiciled or foreign companies with branches in Peru.

“This cannot be corrected via regulation and obviously not only threatens the treasury and tax collection, but also generates benefits for non-resident digital platforms that, sooner or later, will end up eating up the market, rendering resident companies unviable,” Rosell said.

Manuel San Román, former director of Casino Games and Slot Machines of Peru, also participated in the working group and highlighted the need for all operators to pay the tax.

“If we don’t make everyone who operates pay taxes, an issue of unfair competition is going to be generated that is going to make operators go abroad and the money from jobs disappears,” he said.

Last year APADELA came out in support of the new gambling bill but asked that adjustments be made to the initiative. The entity pointed out that it was important that regulation did not impede the continuity of the Peruvian industry or affect the economic livelihood of more than 275,000 people in the country, who are employed by the gambling industry in some form or another.