Colombia Proposes 19% VAT On Online Betting Deposits Again
Colombia's government has once again proposed a 19% value-added tax on online gambling, this time through a bill filed in Congress on 29 October.
The measure targets deposits rather than gross gaming revenue, and it lands as the country's regulated online market continues to be a favourite for new tax ideas.
G3 Newswire reports, citing the official text published by Congress, that Article 41 of Bill 477/2026C, the Ley de Rescate Economico, would bring internet gambling into the general VAT regime. The proposal is still in committee and is not law.
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How The Deposit VAT Would Work
The taxable base would be the amount deposited into a player's account divided by 1.19. Deposits include cash payments and transfers of money or crypto assets made to obtain the right to bet. A COP119,000 deposit would therefore contain a COP100,000 base and COP19,000 of VAT, rather than a flat 19% cut of the full amount.
Operators would be responsible for the tax, including those based overseas where customers meet the bill's Colombian residence or establishment criteria. Article 41 would also let them claim input VAT credits against the tax they generate, and lotteries would keep their exclusion.
The bill would also set monthly taxable bases for land-based gaming: 40 tax value units per ordinary slot machine, 580 per gaming table and six per bingo seat. Those are calculation bases, not fixed bills.
What The Government Expects To Raise
The Finance Ministry forecasts COP2tn from online-gambling VAT in 2027, according to the explanatory memorandum as summarised by iGaming House, roughly $630m. From 2028 to 2030 it projects an average of COP2.3tn a year.
A second change would lift the withholding on lottery, raffle and betting prizes from 20% to 30%. The memorandum says the tax authority DIAN estimates that would add COP198bn, around $62m, in 2028.
The government says the VAT would sit alongside the gambling exploitation fees that fund healthcare rather than replace them.
Industry Reaction And History
Fecoljuegos, the operators' federation, has asked for the tax changes to be reviewed and is preparing a proposal that would separate obligations for online and in-person gambling. Its president, Evert Montero, said the sector understands the need to contribute to public finances and expects a technical and open conversation between the government and Congress.
The history is messy. G3 Newswire notes that financing bills containing gambling-tax measures failed in 2024 and 2025, and that a temporary deposit-based VAT applied during 2025. EY described the 2025 measure as a 19% VAT on deposits under Decree 175, effective from 22 February to 31 December that year.
A later emergency decree imposed 19% VAT on gross gaming revenue for 2026 but was suspended in January and struck down in April after its enabling emergency declaration was invalidated. For now, the 16% national consumption tax on gross gaming revenue under Decree 0240 remains the reference for 2026.
One point is still unsettled. Article 106 provides for the law to take effect on promulgation unless stated otherwise, and Article 41 contains no separate start date, so the timing of the VAT would depend on how Congress handles the bill.
