Chile Senate weighs five-year online betting licences and a betting advertising ban

Chile’s Senate Economy Committee was scheduled on 27 October 2026 to begin studying amendments to bill 14.838-03, which regulates online betting platforms. The official committee agenda describes the bill as being in its second constitutional stage and lists Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz as an invited participant. The agenda records a procedural step, not approval of the amendments or a new law.

The government’s reported package would set the core licensing, tax, advertising and player-protection framework. The bill remains under parliamentary consideration, so none of these reported measures is yet an operative requirement.

The reported licensing and tax model

Diario Financiero reported on 26 October that the government had submitted a 114-page amendment package signed by President José Antonio Kast and five ministers, while withdrawing all earlier amendments to the bill.

The report said the proposed long-term licence would last five years and carry an annual levy of 1,000 UTM. It also described a transitional route requiring operators to pay a 3,000 UTM “enabling right” and be current on Digital VAT payments.

Under the reported eligibility test, an application could be rejected if the applicant or a related party had operated, advertised or offered betting services in Chile without an operating licence during the preceding 12 months. The reported indicators include using a `.cl` domain, paying sponsorships in Chile and holding contracts with Chilean payment providers. The transitional regime would reportedly be exempt from that 12-month restriction if its conditions were met.

For licensed platforms, Diario Financiero reported a proposed 19% VAT on the monthly difference between amounts wagered and prizes paid, plus an additional tax of 3%. Operators with earlier Digital VAT liabilities would reportedly have to declare the tax for the previous 36 months. The report said full payment would extinguish civil, criminal and administrative liability arising from breaches of the relevant tax obligations.

These are reported proposals, not enacted rates or a final tax treatment. Operators should wait for the amendment text to be incorporated into the bill before modelling the effect on gross gaming revenue, historical liabilities or transitional entry costs.

Advertising and player controls

The reported package would prohibit advertising by online betting platforms “with or without” an operating licence. Diario Financiero said the proposed prohibition would reach the party commissioning or contracting the advertising, its designer or producer, the distributor or person permitting its distribution, the intermediary and the individual who carries it out.

Existing contracts with platforms holding transitional licences could reportedly continue for up to one year, but only outside hours protected for minors. Atlas reads the reported scope as extending compliance exposure beyond operators to commercial counterparties involved in buying, producing or distributing betting advertising.

The proposal would also reportedly ban bonuses, promotional offers and other monetary or money-valued benefits intended to acquire or retain users or encourage betting, even where the offer itself was not advertised.

Every account would be created with a default “safe gaming configuration”, according to the report, including deposit limits for periods set by a future Responsible Gaming Regulation and connection-time limits per session and per day. The proposed regulation would be issued by the Ministry of Finance, signed by the Ministries of Health and Social Development, and reviewed every four years.

Other reported controls include strengthened authentication, potentially including biometric verification, and an excluded-person register covering self-excluded users, people deprived of liberty and those listed in the National Register of Child Support Debtors. Athletes, technical staff, directors of professional sports organisations and shareholders would reportedly be prohibited from betting on the relevant sporting discipline.

The next parliamentary test

The same package would reportedly create a Fund for the Prevention and Treatment of Gambling Disorder. Physical casinos could offer platform betting inside their premises, but only through a licensed and certified platform using approved systems, according to Diario Financiero.

The immediate legal question is whether the Senate committee adopts, changes or rejects the reported government indications as it continues work on bill 14.838-03. Until the bill advances beyond its second constitutional stage and becomes law, the five-year licence, 1,000 UTM levy, 19% VAT, additional 3% tax and advertising restrictions remain proposals rather than duties for operators.