Gambling taxes have re-emerged on the agenda of the National Congress of Colombia, which is set to review two separate decrees to apply direct charges on online gambling operators with unclear mechanisms reports Damian Martinez of SBC Noticias.

Congress has received Decreto 0240 and 0241, proposing the application of a “16% tax on online gambling licences” to be applied via separate mechanisms.

Decree 0240 calls for the 16% charge to be applied directly to online gambling platforms, while Decree 0241 requires the tax to be levied at the point of a customer deposit. 

Both decrees are provisional and do not need to specify technical provisions. 

The new measures will expand the scope of gambling taxation to cover all payment channels used by consumers, including bank transfers and cash payments, with the scope to allow cryptocurrency deposits as a new payment method.

The renewed focus on gambling taxation follows political backing from President  Gustavo Petro and the Humane Colombia government. Petro had previously stated publicly that he would support further increases in gambling taxes as part of the government’s broader fiscal agenda.

Fiscal pressure intensified after the Constitutional Court of Colombia provisionally rejected the government’s attempt to impose a 19% VAT on online gambling calculated on gross gaming revenue (GGR).

The court questioned whether the executive branch could introduce such a levy through emergency powers, leaving the government to explore alternative legislative routes.

As detailed by SBC Noticias, Petro’s administration “remains willing to raise the sector’s fiscal contribution as it attempts to stabilise Colombia’s public finances”. 

Petro has lambasted the industry, vowing to apply some form of new tax on online gambling.

The VAT proposal had been a central component of Petro’s fiscal plans, as the administration attempted to close a budget shortfall estimated at COP 30trn ($6–7bn). 

The deficit has become a significant political challenge for the government as it prepares its next national spending programme.

Recent fiscal data has further intensified the debate over gambling taxation. Figures released by tax advisory of DIAN show that income tax receipts declined in real terms during 2025, with cumulative collections through July falling COP 1.8trn below the same period in 2024.

Meanwhile, overall tax revenues have also underperformed expectations, with gross collections reported at COP 2.6trn ($6bn) below DIAN’s projected targets for the year.

Against this backdrop, policymakers increasingly view online gambling as a viable tax base capable of delivering additional revenues to support public spending programmes. 

However, industry representatives warn that the accumulation of new levies could weaken a sector that has already experienced slower growth and declining financial contributions to public funds.

Sources speaking to SBC Noticias indicated that authorities reviewing the decrees are likely to introduce stricter compliance requirements on online gambling operators, particularly in relation to the collection and reporting of gambling taxes linked to player deposits and digital payment transactions.

Congress will now examine the technical implementation of the proposed regulations, including whether Coljuegos or the national government holds the authority to enforce taxation either on platform revenues or player deposits.

The bill accompanying the decrees also calls for greater clarity on fiscal oversight of gambling in Colombia, requiring the government to appoint a specific supervisory authority responsible for monitoring compliance and ensuring the effective collection of gambling taxes across online platforms and payment systems.