Chile tax authority moves to tax online gambling; lawmakers seek comptroller review

Chile's Internal Revenue Service (SII) is advancing a regime to collect a 19% value‑added tax on online gambling platforms, including foreign casinos without a Chilean domicile. The agency issued an office memo outlining that the tax base will be the total amounts wagered by Chilean users, without deductions for winnings, and that payment‑service operators will withhold and remit the tax. A forthcoming resolution will list platforms that fail to register, allowing SII to apply a “change of subject” mechanism to enforce collection. To date, no platform has enrolled in the system.

In response, three deputies – Roberto Arroyo (Independent), Erich Grohs (PNL) and Germán Verdugo (PNL) – have asked the Comptroller General to rule on the legality of imposing VAT on gambling sites that the Supreme Court has deemed illegal. They argue that taxing such services contradicts the court’s ruling and could be interpreted as indirect state validation. Grohs warned that “there cannot be a contradictory signal from the State,” while Verdugo stressed the need for “absolute coherence” between judicial decisions and administrative measures.