The SII estimates to collect over USD 100 million with digital VAT
The first VAT payment from online betting platforms in Chile could exceed $100 million. This estimate was provided by the Deputy Director of Supervision of the Internal Revenue Service (Servicio de Impuestos Internos - SII), Carolina Saravia, before the Senate's Economy Committee, where the agency defended its decision to apply the tax to a sector that still lacks specific regulation.
Saravia specified that there are 39 betting platforms registered under the special regime, all with quarterly payment terms, meaning the first disbursement must be made in October 2026. In addition to this group, another ten platforms did not voluntarily register and were incorporated into a subject change mechanism through Exempt Resolution N°94, which transfers the tax obligation to the corresponding withholding agent to ensure payment. The official warned that the $100 million figure is preliminary and was constructed using available information and public data provided by the companies themselves.
The director of the SII, Jorge Trujillo, explained that Resolution N°69 of 2026 enabled the mechanism for foreign betting platforms, gambling, casinos, and related services to declare and pay taxes generated by their operations in the country. Once registered, they must pay the VAT owed for the last 36 tax periods.
The most sensitive point of his presentation was the scope of the measure. Trujillo stated that enabling a platform for tax payment does not in any way validate the execution of these types of activities; rather, it focuses on the economic fact of the operation and the profit obtained. He added that it is not the agency's role to rule on the legality of economic activities in the market, but to limit itself to applying established norms.
When asked about the apparent contradiction between collecting taxes and blocking sites, the director suggested that both decisions can coexist and that the provisions are harmonized by their own logic: to the extent that the prohibition of these activities is effective and platforms cannot operate, the basis for incorporating taxes disappears.
The Internal Revenue Service is the body responsible for applying and supervising internal taxes in Chile. The simplified VAT regime for digital service providers without a domicile in the country has been in effect since 2020 and was the framework that the agency extended this year to betting platforms, a decision that generated objections from the land-based industry due to its coexistence with blockades ordered by the Judiciary.
Tags: Internal Revenue Service, Jorge Trujillo, VAT collection on online gambling, Resolution No. 69 of 2026