The fourth edition of the SBC Summit Latin America, the main online gaming and sports betting event in Latin America, was recently held in Miami. 

The event was attended by leading representatives of regulatory teams, operators, legal and service providers from countries such as Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Brazil, who signed a joint declaration with the aim of assessing, according to different experiences, the project of law that seeks to regulate the industry in Chile and which is being discussed in the Senate of the aforementioned country.

The statement highlights the following points:

We appreciate the decision of the Public Prosecutor's Office not to pursue (DNP) the investigation being carried out against operators of online gambling platforms, on the grounds that the requirements for charging a criminal offence are not met, ratifying the position held by the operators, this being in line with the criteria adopted by other countries in the region.

We appreciate the progress made in the Chilean Congress in the discussion of the project to regulate the online gambling industry, as this is the only competent body to set the standards for the development of online gambling in the country.

We are also concerned that the guiding principles of this regulation could be affected by the high tax burden of the project, as well as by the lack of competition in the development of the industry, through the incorporation of entry barriers for the players currently operating in the country.

This is not in line with the rest of the countries in the region and makes Chile a less attractive market to operate in, generating as an effect an increase in unregulated gambling, directly threatening the adequate protection of users and the increase in tax revenue.

VAT plus other taxes could disincentivise regulation

Similarly, in their joint statement, the executives expressed concern about the tax burden that regulation would entail. The original project contemplated a 23% tax, but a Treasury indication incorporated VAT and now stands at 38%. This, according to Carlos Baeza, spokesperson in Chile for online gambling platforms Betano, Betsson, BetWarrior, Coolbet, and Latamwin could affect the purpose of the project, which is to encourage platforms to regularise.