Chile’s Internal Revenue Service, the Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII), has taken a major step to integrate offshore online gambling into the national tax framework. Via the publication of Exempt Resolution No. 69, the tax authority has officially mandated that all non-resident taxpayers providing remote betting, lottery, casino games, and similar digital services to local users must register for, collect, and remit the nation’s standard 19% Value Added Tax (VAT) on digital services.
Government projections indicate that extending the simplified digital tax regime to the online gambling space will generate more than $100 million annually in fresh fiscal revenue. Crucially, the SII has made it clear that this administrative intervention is strictly a tax compliance measure. It does not represent formal regulatory approval or legalisation of online gambling activities, which remain the subject of an ongoing legislative debate in the Chilean Senate.
Technical Framework and Retroactive Liability Squeeze
Resolution 69 establishes that registration and collection will be fully managed under the Simplified Taxation Regime originally set up for international digital giants like Netflix and Spotify.
Under the new guidelines, foreign operators do not need to appoint a local legal representative on Chilean soil, but they must provide dedicated administrative contacts and file their tax obligations using the specialised Digital VAT Form F129 on a monthly or quarterly basis.
The structural rules introduced by the SII include several strict compliance measures:
- Tax Base Inclusions: The 19% VAT must be applied directly to the total consideration received as remuneration for the digital service, encompassing the full value of the transactional stakes or fees.
- Retroactive Settlement Mandate: Once registered, foreign operators who have been actively providing digital betting services to Chilean consumers during the past 36 tax reporting periods are required to calculate and settle their outstanding historical VAT liabilities.
- Enforcement and Exclusion: The SII reserves the right to exclude non-compliant platforms from the simplified registry, which would expose them to aggressive international collection mechanisms and financial reporting penalties.
Market Division and the Clash with Traditional Operators
The unexpected tax directive has drawn praise from offshore operators but sharp criticism from domestic, land-based gaming stakeholders. The Chilean Association of Gaming Casinos accused the state of prioritising immediate fiscal collection over consumer safety, warning that taxing the sector gives a false impression of legitimacy to an unlicensed market.
Conversely, the Chilean Association of Online Betting Platforms (APAL) welcomed Resolution 69, stating it establishes a clear pathway for operators to contribute tax revenues while highlighting the urgent need for lawmakers to finalise the primary online gambling bill first introduced in 2022.
This revenue-first enforcement strategy follows a period of aggressive judicial pushback against the offshore market. It arrives months after the igaming ecosystem faced major structural friction when the Chilean Supreme Court issued a mirror-site blocking order targeting unauthorised providers, a clear sign of the disconnect between the judiciary’s prohibitive stance and the tax authority’s pragmatic fiscal collection goals.
The LatAm Tax Trend: Shifting to Consumption-Based Models
Chile’s administrative pivot mirrors a broader legislative trend across Latin America, where sovereign tax authorities are moving aggressively to monetise unregulated digital betting traffic rather than waiting for multi-year regulatory bills to clear deadlocked parliaments.
The continental shift toward direct digital taxation is highly visible across several key jurisdictions:
- Chile (19% Digital VAT): An administrative resolution designed to pull non-resident digital platforms directly into the local tax grid.
- Ecuador (15% Digital VAT): Implemented via the Ecuador SRI 15 percent VAT on the online betting framework specifically to capture offshore revenues.
- Colombia (16% Deposit Tax): Advanced via the Colombia 16 percent online gambling deposit tax to directly tax player capital at the exact point of transaction.
- Brazil (CBS & IBS Dual VAT): Structured through the major Brazil tax reform CBS and IBS betting regulation framework to unify federal and local consumption levies.
By aligning its tax policies with these neighbouring regimes, Chile is acknowledging that borderless digital gambling platforms are highly resilient against outright bans. While the Senate continues to deliberate on the comprehensive framework for operator licensing, responsible gambling safeguards, and corporate entry barriers, the SII has made it clear that foreign platforms will no longer operate within a tax-free sanctuary on Chilean territory.