[REVISION HISTORY]

Chile Senate pushes online gambling licensing

Updated 4 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-09-01 15:08 UTC → 2026-09-01 22:57 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Chile’s regulatory overhaul of online gambling evolved through July and August 2026. The process began with the Internal Revenue Service (SII) attempting to collect a 19% VAT on online gambling platforms, including foreign operators. This move prompted deputies to request a Comptroller General review, arguing that taxing services previously declared illegal by the Supreme Court constitutes indirect state validation. In July 2026, the Senate approved a draft licensing and taxation law with a 27-3-5 vote, despite criticism from Senator Esteban Velásquez (FRVS), who likened the taxation of illegal sites to “money-laundering.” The debate intensified as casino interests, represented by former Justice Minister Luis Cordero, challenged the SII’s ability to collect VAT from betting sites, while online operators organized into three distinct groups to advocate for their interests. The Treasury estimated the new framework could generate US$300 million annually. By August 2026, legal efforts to curb unregulated gambling shifted toward technical enforcement. Following a Supreme Court ruling aimed at preventing the promotion of illegal betting platforms, the Santiago Court of Appeals established a procedure for DNS (Domain Name System) blocking of unauthorized gambling websites. This five-stage mechanism involves authorized entities, such as Lotería de Concepción and Polla Chilena de Beneficencia, identifying suspicious domains. The Superintendency of Gambling Machines then validates these sites, after which the Undersecretary of Telecommunications (Subtel) notifies telecommunications providers—including Claro Chile, Entel, Movistar, WOM, and VTR—to execute the blocks. On August 31, 2026, Subtel officially implemented a massive block of 42 online gambling platforms. Acting on a legal challenge by Lotería de Concepción, Subtel instructed internet service providers to restrict access via DNS mechanisms within a 48-hour window. Subsecretary of Telecommunications Romina Garrido emphasized that the move is “strict compliance with judicial dictates” to target platforms operating outside national regulations while maintaining network neutrality and user privacy.

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