Peru Weighs 5% Betting Tax as Chile Tests Offshore VAT

Peruvian lawmakers have proposed raising the country's betting consumption tax from 1% to 5%. The bill would quintuple a levy that operators already call too high. It arrives as Chile faces a key test of its own contested approach to taxing offshore operators.

Chile's first quarterly VAT payments from offshore betting platforms fall due this month.

Peru is seeking more revenue from a licensed market. Chile, by contrast, has begun taxing an unlicensed one, while officials still dispute whether it should.

Together, the moves show how unsettled betting taxation remains across South America's Pacific coast.

Peru Bill Would Raise Betting Tax to 5%, Reversing Push for Cuts

Deputy Luis Aurelio Masco Cáceres filed Bill 00519-2026 on October 6. His Partido Cívico Obras caucus backs the measure. It would raise the Selective Consumption Tax (ISC) on remote gaming and sports betting from 1% to 5%. The new rate would apply to the value of each bet. It would cover both domestic operators and foreign platforms accessed from Peru.

The bill leaves the separate 12% operator tax under Law 31557 unchanged. Supporters estimate the change would lift annual ISC revenue from S/324 million (US$94 million) to S/1.62 billion (US$470 million).

The proposal also links the higher tax to problem gambling prevention. That stance marks a reversal, since another lawmaker recently sought to cut the ISC by up to 90%.

Chile Taxes Offshore Betting Platforms Without Legalizing Them

Chile's Internal Revenue Service (SII) issued Resolution 69 on June 2. It lets offshore betting platforms register and pay 19% digital VAT. Registered platforms must also settle VAT owed for the previous 36 tax periods.

Thirty-nine platforms have signed up, and their first quarterly payment is due in October. The SII has estimated that collection could exceed US$100 million. Even so, the agency insists that paying tax does not make the platforms legal. Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz has backed that position.

Chile's Supreme Court ruled in 2025 that unauthorized online betting is illegal. Telecom regulator Subtel continues to order internet providers to block betting domains.

Chilean Lawmakers Contest Betting VAT as Bills Remain Pending

Chile's Chamber of Deputies challenged the policy in August. It approved Agreement 23, which voiced concern over the SII's legal interpretation. The measure passed 133 to 3, with five abstentions. Because the resolution is non-binding, it has not halted collection.

Deputies Marco Antonio Sulantay and Eduardo Cretton of the UDI party later asked the Finance Ministry to revoke Resolution 69. Sulantay said the SII should suspend collection until Congress regulates the sector. "It is not coherent for the state to tax these betting houses," he said. A bill to license and regulate online betting in Chile remains before the Senate. Peru's proposal, meanwhile, must still clear committee review and a floor vote.