Peru Plans Wider Gambling Regulation as Tax Debate Grows

Key Points

• According to Yuri Guerra, the director general of MINCETUR, the gambling bill is 60% ready, and there is still no draft of the bill.
• The draft decree is expected to lower the maximum penalty from 1.1 million to 385,000, which will make the penalty 65% lower.
• In Congress, the draft bill suggests raising the betting tax from 1% to 5%, thus causing concerns that some betting operators may abandon Peru.

Peru Regulator Proposes Prohibiting Unapproved Gambling

MINCETUR, the gambling regulator of Peru, proposes prohibiting all unapproved gambling activities; however, the ministry did not publish any draft of the bill. There are also two other draft proposals: one of them would lower fines, and another would raise the tax on each bet fivefold. Yuri Guerra, the director general of MINCETUR responsible for casino and slot machine gaming, has talked about the ministry’s plans in his interview with NEXT.io on 9 November.

According to him, the gambling bill prepared by the ministry is 60% ready. It is supposed to extend Law 31557, regulating online gaming and sports betting, to other types of gambling. NEXT.io suggests that the bill would cover prediction markets, prize drawings and raffles. Lotteries are under the control of the Ministry of Women, MIMP, and it is unknown whether the bill will affect its powers.

“Currently, under Peruvian law, anything that is not prohibited is permitted,” Guerra stated. “We want anything not authorised by MINCETUR to be prohibited.”

The bill will be presented by MINCETUR by the end of 2026, and new regulations will be introduced within a year after. Since there is no draft bill available publicly, all information about possible gambling licences and penalties is only the intention of the ministry and not the published legal requirements yet. There are three separate bills being considered now: the gambling bill, the draft decree, and the tax bill. None of them has become law yet.

Draft Decree Looks to Ease Fines But Tighten Ad Rules

The first shot at reform is a draft decree that went out to public consultation back on 21 October. The bill suggests several significant modifications in the way MINCETUR will operate when imposing penalties on the licensees. The upper limit of penalties imposed for violation of the most serious type will be reduced from 200 tax units to 70, a 65% cut in the amount which will bring down the cost from approximately S/1.1 million to S/385,000.

As well as slashing the top fine MINCETUR would also be reducing the penalties for more serious breaches. Instead of the current range of 50 to 150 tax units the new rules would set a new limit of 1 to 35 units. MINCETUR would still be able to cancel a licence or disqualify an operator for the really bad stuff, so the 70-unit limit wouldn’t be the absolute worst case. Fines would also be capped at 10% of an operator’s gross income from the year before unless you get on the naughty list that is, repeat offenders and unlicensed operators would get a different set of rules.

Operators would get some options to cut the cost of fines, they could get a discount of 50%, 35% or 25% depending on how quickly they pay up. If they get their act together before the final report is even written they’ll get the biggest reduction. Guerra was keen to defend the cut saying that penalties should be proportional to the size of the operator.

The decree also proposes some big changes to the advertising rules. For TV and online ads you’d have to show a warning about the risks of addiction on screen for at least 5 seconds. For print and outdoor advertising the warning would have to take up at least 10% of the space. It’s INDECOPI, Peru’s consumer and competition agency that would be responsible for keeping an eye on things while the operators would still be responsible for ads that get splashed all over social media by influencers.

“Advertising is just everywhere, it’s becoming an invasion,” Guerra said. But right now he doesn’t think a complete ban is the answer, maybe time limits on ads could be the next step if operators start to flout the new rules.

MINCETUR has already been in touch with Google and has plans to chat with Meta next. Guerra thinks that if the ministry gets the right powers it might be able to get Meta to block content.

The public consultation has now closed it ended on 6 November according to the ministry’s website. The final version of the decree is still in the works. The other changes proposed would reduce the minimum password length for players from 8 characters to just 4 and extend the period between having to log in again from 30 days to six months.

Platform Blocks And Raids Keep Coming Before New Rules Kick In

Back on 2 October MINCETUR took down another 50 platforms. This takes the total number taken down this year up to 86. The ministry had a goal to block 157. The difference is 71, but that doesn’t necessarily mean 71 platforms are still out there.

Then on 2 November the ministry got to work and smashed 518 slot machines. Of those 315 had been seized since 2009 and 203 were slot machines designed for children that’s according to reports from 15M.

Guerra reckons that right now there are 45 licensed online operators in Peru and that international companies are still interested in coming into the market. But he also warned that if operators start to leave the market the outcome could be more unlicensed gambling.

“If companies pack up and leave, what you’ll get is more of the same old unlicensed gambling,” he said.

A Rant About Increasing Betting Tax Awaits a Verdict in Congress

Bill 0051920262031CD was filed on October 6th by a bunch of Civic Works Party politicians. The proposed bill aims to increase the betting tax from 1% to an incredible 5%.

As you may already guess, the tax in question refers to the selective consumption tax or ISC and it applies on a per-bet basis, meaning it is not linked to any winnings or revenues generated by the operators. The difference here is obvious – Peru already has a gaming tax in place, being a 12% income levy on the net amount earned after deducting prizes and refunds, along with an additional 2% maintenance charge.

In 2024, lawmakers decided to drop the idea of introducing a tax on internet gambling ahead of its regulation. The existing 1% was introduced through Legislative Decree 1644, which entered into effect on September 13th 2024. Collections began on July 1st 2025.

Under the new bill, the annual tax revenue would jump from 324 million soles to 1.62 billion, representing a ‘best case’ scenario which they are clearly not counting on. 14,409 individuals sought assistance for problem gambling in 2025. This is ‘attendances’ not the actual number of patients as some attended more than once.

Article 5 of the bill, as per iGaming Times, has no provision for where the new tax cash would go. So, prevention and treatment services will just have to keep on patching together what they already have.

Guerra also mentioned that MINCETUR is mulling a profit-based ISC, but for now the bill just keeps the tax per bet.

Operators Warn They Can’t Keep Up as Court Case Drags On

Castillo Willis from Inkabet reckons the proposed increase could gobble up 50 to 60% of gross gaming revenue. He reckoned that out on Oct 15, just days after the bill got filed. He warned that smaller operators are going to struggle the most because their profit margins may just not cover the new tax rate.

“They just might not have enough left over to keep running the show.”

The principles of payment for the ISC fees are fairly straightforward. The Peruvian-owned platform must pay out of its own pocket, whereas the foreign platform charges the player and simply collects on its behalf. Castillo Willis reckons most operators have just chosen to absorb the 1% tax but that’s just a business decision rather than a hard and fast rule.

He also mentioned that a few operators are opting to ditch rollover bonuses and just offer free bets instead because, of course, promotional bets get taxed too. According to Castillo Willis, legislators would prefer to wait before raising the rate based on the performance of the existing 1% ISC rate.

“Shouldn’t we wait and see what’s happening from the current rate before slapping on another 4%?”

There’s already a court case going on about the whole tax thing. Peru’s electoral authority certified 5,058 signatures back on May 28th, and the Constitutional Tribunal took the case on Aug 7th. The plaintiffs reckon the tax rules are unfair and that the government needs to rethink them. But we still haven’t got a ruling on the merits.

Industry insiders reckon that a whopping 40 operators and 1,500 outlets bailed out of the market in 2025 and 2026.

Expert Analysis: Additional Gambling Regulation Measures and Higher Taxes

There appear to be two contradictory measures that are currently being discussed in Peru. According to MINCETUR, the government seeks additional regulation and restriction of gambling in the country, while the draft decree would allow licensed operators to pay lower fines. However, another group of Peruvian lawmakers suggests increasing taxes for each bet fivefold.

Based on the simplified example above, one can see that the gambling tax would take 50 per cent of the margin if the operator pays the full 5% tax. It would be much more difficult for slots because of higher taxes. Indeed, the 96% theoretical return of the game means a house edge of 4%, which is less than the suggested tax of 5%.

House edge should be distinguished from the net profit of operators. It seems that operators might manipulate the odds and, therefore, partially recover the cost of the new tax from gamblers. As we can see, this tax applies to stakes and, therefore, the calculation of it becomes one of the major issues to consider. Moreover, the tax rate should be compared to the rates of other countries. The regional comparison in the bill should be analysed since Colombia’s 16% applies to the gross gaming revenue, not stakes.

It has been stated by Guerra that more unlicensed gambling may become a result of the licensed operators leaving Peru. It is also unclear how the ban on unapproved gambling activities would work since there are 71 platforms fewer than the ministry’s target.

It seems that lower fines will have an impact only in case of their consistent application by MINCETUR. However, this is not guaranteed by the draft decree. At the same time, the ministry calls the proposed changes technical while introducing new requirements for advertising.

However, the point of Guerra to provide investors with a stable regulatory environment will be tested in case of a fivefold increase in the tax on each bet. The decision-making of the final decree, the publication of the gambling bill and the final decision about the tax increase are now the key ones. Peru seeks to prohibit more gambling activity, but the tax may negatively affect licensed operators.