Chilean Deputies Vote to Bar Tax Agency Spending on Online Betting VAT

Chile's Chamber of Deputies has approved a budget amendment that would stop the tax authority from spending money on collecting VAT from unauthorised online betting platforms. The vote was 133 in favour, two against and one abstention on 10 November, according to iGB's report. The measure is part of the 2027 Budget Bill and is not law. It must still go to the Senate.

The fight traces back to a June decision. Resolution 69, dated 2 June 2026 and announced by the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) on 3 June, let foreign providers without a domicile or residence in Chile register for digital VAT. Platforms that had operated during the previous 36 tax periods were required to pay the outstanding VAT. Chile's standard rate is 19%. SII director Jorge Trujillo told the Senate Economy Committee that paying VAT does not authorise a platform to operate, and that the aim was to stop non-compliant firms gaining an unjustified tax advantage.

The UDI deputies behind the amendment argue the logic runs the other way. Eduardo Cretton and Marco Antonio Sulantay said in October that the state cannot fight an illegal activity through one agency while another validates it because it brings in revenue. Iгb reports that Chile's Supreme Court ruled in 2025 that the platforms operating there were illegal, which gives their argument legal weight. The tax question is the one now in dispute.

The amendment is narrower than its wording suggests. It restricts spending on declaration and payment mechanisms and does not expressly remove the underlying tax obligations. In theory, platforms would still owe VAT, but the tax agency would be told not to run the system that collects it. That is the trade-off to watch. Analysis: if the rider survives, the state keeps a legal claim to the money while the body responsible for collecting it is told not to do so. Taxpayers who expect the revenue, compliant operators competing with firms that do not pay, and the agency's own staff would all feel the effect differently. The report does not include a revenue estimate, so the size of the stake is unknown.

Process remains open. The amendment was initially ruled inadmissible on constitutional grounds by the Chamber's Secretariat, but lawmakers overturned that ruling before the substantive vote. Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz has entered a constitutional reservation, which leaves open a challenge to the provision's inclusion in the Budget Law. The reporting does not say whether registrations already made under the June mechanism would be affected while the Senate deliberates.