For the Chilean Casino Association, the decision by the Internal Revenue Service (SII) to enable a new system so that foreign online gambling platforms can pay Value Added Tax (VAT) in the country is a “covert regularization mechanism.”
Through a statement, the association expressed its rejection of the resolution by the regulatory body that allows foreign online betting operators to register with the SII in order to comply with their tax obligations in the country. The measure seeks to bring these activities into the VAT collection system, following a mechanism similar to that used with other foreign digital platforms.
The association emphasized that this “signal is especially confusing when, just days after this decision, the Government chose not to submit amendments and to reduce the urgency of processing the bill that specifically seeks to regulate this activity.”
They also stressed that paying taxes “does not turn an illegal activity into a legal one” and that “the signal the market receives is that these platforms can continue operating while only regularizing their tax situation.”
They explained that online betting platforms operating from abroad are not subject to the same legal rules that apply to local companies regarding oversight, user protection, prevention of access by minors, traceability of funds, and control of illicit activities.
This is why, according to the association, the mechanism “does not constitute a simple act of tax collection. In practice, it operates as a covert regularization mechanism by bringing into the State system operators that are currently carrying out an activity that the Supreme Court has classified as illegal.”
Finally, they called for progress on regulations that provide legal certainty and fair and equitable conditions for all players in the sector.
“As a regulated industry, we call on the authorities to safeguard the institutional coherence of the State, to restore consistency among the criteria of the Supreme Court, the Superintendency of Gambling Casinos, and the SII itself, and to urgently advance comprehensive regulation that guarantees fair competition, consumer protection, and legal certainty for the development of this activity,” the association concluded.