Colombia proposes 19% VAT on online betting deposits via rescue bill

The Ministry of Finance of Colombia filed the Ley de Rescate Económico, bill 477 of 2026, on 29 October 2026 to put a 19% value-added tax on deposits to online-only gambling operators into the tax code. The ministry expects the online VAT to raise COP 2 trillion in 2027 and an average of COP 2.3 trillion a year from 2028 to 2030; the bill also raises the tax on lottery, raffle and betting prizes from 20% to 30%.

What the bill would do

Article 41 of bill 477 of 2026 would amend Colombia's tax code so that games of chance, except lotteries, are subject to VAT. For games operated exclusively online, the taxable base would be the deposit — including cash, money transfers or crypto-asset transfers — that a player makes to fund an account and place bets. The general VAT rate of 19% would apply.

The explanatory memorandum clarifies that the online definition excludes games settled by physical draws, such as chance and lotteries. The bill explicitly makes the operator liable for the VAT "así opere desde el exterior" — that is, the operator would be taxable even if it operates from abroad.

Article 52 would raise the existing tax on prizes from lotteries, raffles and bets from 20% to 30%. Article 93 would give the national tax agency, the Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (DIAN), the power to order internet service providers to block access from Colombia to an online operator's websites where an operator, domestic or foreign, fails to adopt or comply with technical control systems required under the measure.

Revenue estimates and the ministry's rationale

The Ministry of Finance's memorandum forecasts COP 2 trillion in revenue from the online VAT in 2027 and an average of COP 2.3 trillion a year from 2028 to 2030 (approximately $725 million a year on that later average). The DIAN expects the higher prize tax to yield COP 198 billion (about $62 million) in 2028.

The memorandum argues that the proposed ordinary law addresses a current discrepancy: online betting has escaped VAT while land-based venues pay it. The ministry notes that the levy would sit on top of the exploitation rights that fund the health system. It also cites industry data showing strong recent growth in online activity and claims that gambling demand is relatively price inelastic.

Coljuegos, the national gambling regulator, reported that online betting contributions to health rose 84.24% to COP 473,023 million between January and August 2026, and the memorandum attributes much of that jump to the FIFA World Cup.

Industry response and concerns

Fecoljuegos, the federation of operators, has asked for the measures to be reviewed and is preparing a proposal that would treat online and land-based gambling differently. Evert Montero, president of Fecoljuegos, told La República that the sector "understands the need to contribute to stable public finances and remains willing to do so," and he expressed hope the government and Congress will allow "una conversación técnica y abierta." NEXT.io reported Montero warned the measures could put small and medium-sized operators at risk.

Fecoljuegos's planned differentiated regime aims to address the fact that a deposit-based tax falls on money before it is staked; some deposited funds are withdrawn unplayed or recycled through winnings. That dynamic can make the effective burden measured against operator revenue higher than the headline 19% rate, a point the federation intends to press in its proposal.

Enforcement, reach and legal permanence

Article 93 frames access blocks as a tax-compliance sanction: the DIAN could order internet service providers to block sites of operators that fail to meet technical control requirements. The provision applies to operators both inside and outside Colombia, so it could be used against offshore sites that serve Colombian players if the DIAN chooses to apply it that way.

Earlier measures had used emergency decrees. The government adopted Decreto 175 of 2025 and Decreto 240 of 2026 during a period of economic emergency; on 29 January 2026 the Constitutional Court provisionally suspended the economic emergency behind one of those decrees. The principal change in bill 477 is permanence: the ministry presents the ordinary law as a way to place the online levy in the regular statute book rather than rely on emergency powers. That shifts the policy debate to Congress, where Fecoljuegos is pressing for a differentiated regime rather than repeal.

Practical questions left open

The bill text and explanatory memorandum set out the taxable base, rates and enforcement powers, and they anchor the revenue forecasts. They do not, however, resolve several operational questions that will matter to the market and to Congress: how the DIAN will calculate VAT on deposits that are partially withdrawn unplayed, how the tax will interact with existing exploitation-rights payments to health, and the technical standards operators must meet to avoid site blocks. The ministry's memorandum argues that controls on unauthorised platforms must accompany the tax, and it presents the World Cup year 2026 as evidence that demand is relatively insensitive to price; the memorandum concedes that 2027 will be a more telling baseline.

The filing was recorded in the Cámara de Representantes as bill 477 of 2026 and is at committee stage. Vice President José Manuel Restrepo filed the bill alongside Finance Minister Miguel Gómez Martínez, who signed the submission on 29 October 2026.

For reporting on the Coljuegos figures and sector commentary, see the regulator's bulletin and coverage in La República and NEXT.io. The bill text and memorandum are filed with the Cámara de Representantes and list the key provisions in articles 41, 52 and 93 and the revenue projections in section 7.3.

Coljuegos has provided the market data cited by the ministry and regulator, and the debate now moves to Congress where Fecoljuegos will present its alternative.