Lawmakers in the Chamber of Deputies in Chile have approved draft proposals to establish a regulated sports betting market.
As reported in SBC Noticias, the draft bill secured a strong majority in the lower house and will now move to the Senate to be examined. From there it can either be voted through, amended and returned to the lower house, or killed altogether.
The core purpose of the bill is to establish a regulated sports betting framework that encourages competition, generates tax revenue and protects users. In that sense, it mirrors the efforts currently underway in Brazil, where the sports betting bill has been sent back to the Chamber of Deputies for reexamination.
The approved Chilean bill allows for “any type of betting and games of chance exploited commercially” and will work under a licensing regime.
Under the proposals, the Superintendency of Gaming Casinos will be named the Superintendency of Casinos, Betting and Games of Chance and will be the regulator of the market, charged with licensing operators.
Operators must pay one thousand monthly tax units (UTM) per year to obtain a permit. In addition, they must pay 20 percent of the GGR and 1 percent of the so-called “responsible gaming contribution rate”.
Meanwhile, the bill also mandates that operators will pay taxes in line with land-based casinos in Chile. That is, operators will be taxed both on the GGR that they generate, as well as usual VAT as a digital entertainment company.
Finally, the bill provides language around the inspection and regulation of operators, granting new powers and perfecting the existing ones related to the Internal Revenue Service (SII) and the Superintendence of Casinos, Betting and Games of Chance.
