Chile’s Senate Economic Commission continued to analyze a bill the Senate is debating on online gambling, G3 Newswire reported March 18.
The bill seeks to create a competitive market, protect the health and safety of consumers, ensure financial transparency of funds and raise taxes for the state while helping to fund sports.
During last week’s session the head of the Concepción Lottery, regulatory deputy director of the Internal Revenue Service and director of the Specialized Unit in Economic Crimes, Environmental Crimes, Cybercrimes, and Associated Money Laundering all testified to lawmakers.
Lottery General Manager Mario Parada described the organization’s century-long history and how it has benefited society. He also emphasized the need to fight illegal gambling.
G3 reported that Parada urged the government to “enforce existing laws and prosecute illegal gambling vigorously while the new law is being debated.”
“We recognize the importance of preserving this trajectory and effort, allowing us to maintain our place in this market on equal terms, ensuring the safeguarding of Lotería’s historical contribution to the community,” he said.
Under the law being discussed, licensees would be 1,000 UTMs (Unidad Tributaria Mensual) $38,000 annually, and 2 percent of gross revenue annually and another specific tax of 20 percent on gross revenue, with subtractions for VAT and other charges in a somewhat convoluted formula. The total taxation would be about 37.8 percent.
The Senate Economic Committee has been mulling the online gambling bill since January when it was presented by Undersecretary of Finance Heidi Berner and the chief of the Superintendent of Casino Games (SJC) Vivien Villagrán. The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill in December.
Lawmakers also heard from the attorney who represents several gaming operators, including Betsson, Betano, Coolbet, Latamwin, BetWarrior and 1xBet. Attorney Carlos Baeza criticized the article that would block brands that operated in the past 12 months before it goes into effect.
Baeza discussed that appearance with Yogonet. He praised lawmakers for including “the most important players for the analysis of the bill.” But he criticized the blocking article of the bill and another article that would require operators to pay retroactive taxes. He called them “absolutely unconstitutional.”
Baeza declared, “We pointed out that these two articles lack any practical sense because the objective of this regulatory project is that the majority of operators move from the unregulated market to the regulated market. It makes no sense to affect or attack all those who already participate in the market.”
He added that it “makes no sense to postpone it with the blocking period and it makes even less sense to postpone it with the retroactive punishment in relation to taxes.”
He also criticized the tax burden, calling it “absolutely disproportionate,” comparing the 37.8 percent with the 12 percent in Brazil and Peru and 16.8 percent in Columbia.
He stated, “There is a structural error on the part of the Ministry of Finance in maintaining that the higher the rate, the greater the collection. Lower taxes not only benefit the operators but also the country, because if the tax burden is low, the channeling rate is high and the collection and the protected players increase.”
