Chile’s government has submitted a 114-page package of amendments intended to revive its stalled online-gambling bill, proposing a licensed private market while also tightening tax, advertising and player-protection rules. The Senate received more than 500 amendments before the Oct. 26 deadline, underlining the divisions that remain over whether the country should regulate online betting at all.
The Executive’s package would issue five-year operating licences, levy 19% VAT on the margin between stakes and winnings, and impose an additional 3% gambling tax. It would also set an annual licence fee of 1,000 monthly tax units, or roughly $77,000, and introduce default limits on deposits and playing time.
The proposals would prohibit gambling advertising and promotional bonuses. Agrupación de iGaming Responsable argued that an outright ban could divert customers to unlicensed sites, saying advertising should be regulated rather than eliminated.
A central dispute concerns how platforms that have already served Chilean customers without an official licence would enter the new regime. The government proposal would bar operators active during the previous year from applying unless they reach a transitional arrangement with authorities while undergoing technical certification and supervisory review.
Suggested transitional charges have ranged from a monthly tariff of 73,000 UTM to a one-off or periodic payment of 3,000 UTM, about $219,000. The Asociación Chilena de Casinos y Juego, or ACCJ, said the latter option would amount to insufficient consequences for firms that had operated outside the law, and described it as a possible pardon for prior illegal activity.
The casino association also objected to the proposed fiscal balance. Its president, Cecilia Valdés, said authorised land-based casinos pay specific taxes that directly support municipalities and regional governments, while online operators would receive different treatment. The amendments would allow land-based casinos to offer online betting on their premises through agreements with licensed platform partners, but Valdés said that mechanism would not provide sufficiently competitive conditions.
The bill, numbered 14,838-03, was introduced in March 2022. The Chamber of Deputies passed it in December 2023, and the Senate approved it in principle in August 2025 by 27 votes to three, with five abstentions. It is now in its second constitutional stage in the Senate after more than a year of limited progress.
The legislative debate has also produced competing amendments that would replace a regulated private market with far stricter restrictions. Senators Diego Ibáñez and Gastón Saavedra have proposed a complete ban on private online gambling, with registered operators given up to 24 months to wind down. Their proposal would require internet providers, app platforms and payment companies to block access and transactions, while violations could bring prison terms of six months to three years and fines of roughly $14,500 to $72,800.
A separate lottery-only proposal would reserve online gambling for Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Lotería de Concepción. Reporting differs on its sponsor: one account attributes a lottery-reservation amendment to Senator Daniel Núñez, while another attributes it to Senator Paulina Núñez. The latter version would also provide for permanent judicial blocking, identity verification, voluntary betting limits and self-exclusion, alongside penalties for illegal operators and promoters.
Chile does not expressly regulate online gambling. Law 19.995 governs land-based casino authorisation and does not extend casino operating permits to online games of chance, while the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego has stated that online platforms are not legally authorised to operate in the country. Foreign sports-betting platforms nevertheless offer services to Chilean users without local authorisation or oversight.
Enforcement has continued during the legislative impasse. Subtel ordered providers to block 42 gambling websites in September after court rulings, while 39 offshore betting sites had registered with tax authorities under a broader law requiring foreign digital platforms to pay 19% VAT on Chilean transactions.
