Colombia’s government and Congress have started technical talks on a tax bill that would apply 19% VAT to online gambling deposits.
The working groups began on 10 November. The groups were agreed between the government and members of Congress’s economic committees, at a meeting in Barranquilla on 7 November.
The talks cover Bill 477/2026C, known as the Economic Rescue Bill. Finance Minister Miguel Gómez Martínez submitted it to the Chamber of Representatives on 29 October.
The bill aims to stabilise public finances through spending cuts and new taxes. It has been filed flagged as urgent, so the economic committees of both chambers will debate it together.
On 10 November, the Senate committees named their rapporteurs for the first debate. They are Conservative senator David Barguil on the Third Committee and Carlos Mario Farelo of Cambio Radical on the Fourth.
The joint committees are expected to debate the bill in the last week of November. The government has until 16 December to secure approval in the current session.
What the bill means for gambling
Article 41 would remove the VAT exclusion for games operated only online and apply the standard 19% rate.
The taxable base would be the player’s deposit, including cash, bank transfers and cryptoassets, divided by 1.19. That means a COP119,000 ($35.98) deposit would include COP19,000 in VAT.
Operators would be liable for the tax – even if they are based abroad –, when players are tax residents, domiciled or doing business in Colombia.
The same article would double the monthly taxable bases for land-based gambling. Slot machines would rise from 20 to 40 tax value units (UVT), gaming tables from 290 to 580 UVT and bingo from three to six UVT per seat. Lotteries would stay exempt.
Article 52 would raise the occasional gains tax on prizes from lotteries, raffles and betting from 20% to 30%.
The Colombian Federation of Gambling Entrepreneurs (Fecoljuegos) is preparing an alternative tax proposal for the Ministry of Finance and Congress. It represents manufacturers, suppliers and operators of casinos, bingo halls and online platforms. Its members include Betsson Group, Codere, Wplay and Betano.
Federation president Evert Montero said the industry was willing to help.
“We understand the need to contribute to the stability of public finances and remain willing to contribute,” Montero told La FM.
“Online and land-based games have different structures, but both face obligations and costs that must be recognised.”
He added: “Protecting investment and employment also means protecting a source of funding for health.”
Colombia first applied 19% VAT to online gambling deposits by emergency decree in February 2025. The tax expired at the end of that year after a Senate committee rejected a bill to make it permanent.
Decree 1474 of December 2025 reapplied the 19% VAT on gross gaming revenue (GGR) for 2026. The Constitutional Court suspended it in January and struck it down in April 2026.
A separate 16% consumption tax on online GGR, introduced by emergency decree in March, remains in force until 31 December 2026. It is awaiting a court ruling.
