Chile deputies back curbs on online betting tax collection
Chile’s Chamber of Deputies has approved an amendment to the 2027 Budget Bill targeting tax payment systems for unauthorised online betting platforms.
The measure would prevent Chile’s tax authority – the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) – from using its resources to implement or administer those systems. It received 133 votes in favour, two against and one abstention on 10 November.
Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) deputy Eduardo Cretton tabled the amendment during scrutiny of the Ministry of Finance budget. Its wording also covers other activities that are not authorised to operate in Chile.
The amendment states: “No resources of the Internal Revenue Service may be allocated to the implementation or administration of mechanisms for the declaration and payment of taxes in respect of online betting platforms or other activities that are not authorised to operate in Chile.”
The Chamber’s Secretariat initially ruled the amendment inadmissible on constitutional grounds. Lawmakers overturned that decision before approving the proposal in a substantive vote.
The provision targets spending on tax declaration and payment mechanisms. It does not expressly abolish the underlying tax obligations of online betting platforms.
The vote follows an SII decision in June to enable foreign online betting and gambling platforms to register and pay digital VAT.
Resolution 69, dated 2 June 2026, established the mechanism. It covers providers without a domicile or residence in Chile. The SII announced the measure on 3 June.
Chile’s standard VAT rate is 19%. The mechanism brought foreign gambling providers into the simplified digital VAT system.
The resolution also addressed unpaid taxes. Once registered, platforms that had provided services during the previous 36 tax periods were required to pay the corresponding outstanding VAT.
Tax collection does not authorise gambling, SII says
The decision drew criticism from lawmakers concerned that collecting taxes could legitimise unauthorised betting services. Chile’s Supreme Court ruled in 2025 that online betting platforms operating in the country were illegal.
“An illegal activity cannot be combatted by one agency and, at the same time, validated by another entity simply because it allows the state to raise more resources,” Cretton and fellow UDI deputy Marco Antonio Sulantay said in October.
SII director Jorge Trujillo defended the measure before the Senate’s Economy Committee in June. The authority’s account of his appearance stressed that requiring VAT payments did not authorise platforms to operate or regularise their regulatory position.
Trujillo said the approach prevented regulatory non-compliance from creating an unjustified tax advantage.
“If, in practice, transactions took place that constitute a taxable event under current tax law, the SII must require compliance with the respective tax obligations,” he said.
The SII argued that platforms continued to operate openly despite state efforts to stop them. Its position was that taxable transactions still generated tax obligations.
Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz entered a constitutional reservation over the amendment. This leaves open the possibility of a challenge to its inclusion in the Budget Law.
The measure must now be considered by the Senate as part of the 2027 Budget Bill. It is not yet law, and its final wording remains subject to the legislative process.