Chilean Senate Approves Online Betting Regulation Bill in General Vote : pmp

By Arijit Roul - 16 Aug, 2025 More about the author

The Senate in Chile votes for an online betting regulation bill, moving plans to license, tax, and stop illegal gambling activities.

The bill gained acceptance in the Senate with 27 members agreeing and 3 voting against it.
There will be rules for licensing, limits on adverts, and actions to fight money laundering.
Under the new tax rules, operators approved through licensing must pay a 20% sector tax with VAT added.

Senate Decision and Main Goals

Chile’s senators agreed on a bill to control online betting, aiming to set up a system for official licenses and stricter actions against those who gamble illegally. This proposal received 27 supporting votes, 3 rejections, and 5 abstentions, and it will next get a detailed check from the Economic and Finance Committees of the Senate. One goal of the bill is to keep players safe, make betting revenue clear, and treat online betting like legal lotteries and horse betting.

A National Responsible Betting Policy would be established, ads would face control, and people who can affect results are banned from betting. To make rules stick, authorities plan to stop money transfers and block websites that do not have a permit, and jail sentences will be used for those who break rules by running or endorsing illegal betting.

Taxation and Licensing Conditions

The Finance Committee of the Senate already voted to support this bill with no disagreements at all. Firms licensed by the government must pay VAT, a specific 20% tax, plus pay another 1% tax for programs that guide people to bet responsibly. Sports bodies in Chile will get backing, too, as the law sets a 2% tax on gross sports betting revenue to support these groups. Regulators say that companies running illegal betting now can only request a license if they wait 12 months and pay a one-time tax, using past income and how many people used their service to work out the amount.