Online gambling in Chile: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Chile?

Chilean law prohibits games of chance unless a statute authorizes them; the exceptions are land-based casinos under Law 19,995, horse racing, Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Lotería de Concepción, whose online products (including Polla's Xperto sports betting) are the only legal online play. A regulation bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies in December 2023 passed the Senate's general vote in August 2025 and was in committee detail in 2026. Meanwhile courts order internet providers to block unauthorized sites, and since June 2026 the tax authority requires foreign betting platforms to register and pay 19% VAT without that registration conferring any authorization.

Restricted: Online gambling is prohibited for operators or licensing is closed; enforcement varies.

Who regulates gambling in Chile?

• Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego (SCJ) — Regulates land-based casinos under Law 19,995, verifies unauthorized online platforms for court-ordered blocking and would become the online regulator under the pending bill
• Servicio de Impuestos Internos (SII) — Tax authority; since Resolution 69 of June 2026 registers foreign online betting platforms for digital VAT

Chile gambling licence: how it works

No licence for private online casino or sports betting exists. Land-based casino permits are granted by the SCJ under Law 19,995, and online play is legal only through the state-linked Polla Chilena de Beneficencia and Lotería de Concepción. The pending bill (Boletín 14.838-03) would create a semi-open licensing market run by a renamed Superintendencia de Casinos, Apuestas y Juegos de Azar, with operator companies incorporated in Chile, a specific tax on gross gaming revenue, blocking and payment-control tools, and a 12-month cooling-off period plus a substitute tax for platforms that operated in Chile before the law. The Senate approved the idea of legislating on 13 August 2025 and extended the deadline for amendments to 29 May 2026; a technical working group with the executive was agreed in 2026 to finish the detail.

What an applicant needs

• No online licence is available until the bill becomes law
• Under the bill: a company incorporated in Chile, capital and guarantee requirements, and certification of platforms and games
• Under the bill: platforms that operated in Chile before the law would face a 12-month cooling-off period and a substitute tax before applying
• Land-based casino permits: SCJ tender process under Law 19,995 with municipal siting and investment commitments

Gambling taxes in Chile

• Operators: No online operator tax exists yet; the bill approved by the Chamber of Deputies proposed a 20% specific tax on gross gaming revenue plus VAT. Land-based casinos pay 19% VAT, a 20% specific tax on gross gaming revenue and an entrance tax of 0.07 UTM per visitor. Since June 2026 foreign online platforms serving Chilean users must register with the SII and pay 19% digital VAT on all amounts received; 39 platforms had registered by September 2026 and the SII applies withholding by card issuers to those that did not.
• Players: No specific tax on winnings from authorized games; prizes from unauthorized platforms have no legal protection.
• Also: The SII states that VAT registration has tax effects only and does not authorize or legitimize the activity. Registered platforms must also declare VAT for the previous 36 tax periods.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising of unauthorized gambling is treated as promotion of an illegal activity; the SCJ has filed more than 120 criminal complaints since 2018, most concerning online platforms and their promoters, and sponsorship deals between betting brands and football clubs have been challenged. The pending bill would regulate advertising for licensed operators and ban it for others.

Responsible gaming

Land-based casinos operate self-exclusion and age controls under SCJ rules; Polla Chilena and Lotería de Concepción apply their own age checks online. The bill would add deposit limits, self-exclusion, addiction-prevention duties and a responsible-gaming fund for licensed platforms.

Identity and age verification

Casinos verify identity and age (18+) at entry; the bill proposes identity verification, player accounts and reporting duties for licensed platforms, with information sharing among the SCJ, UAF, CMF, SII and Subtel.

Payments

There are no payment rules for private online operators because none are authorized. Subtel orders DNS blocking of platforms on lists verified by the SCJ (42 sites in September 2026 after a court action by Lotería de Concepción), and card issuers withhold 19% VAT on payments to platforms that did not register with the SII.

Notable restrictions

• Games of chance are illegal unless expressly authorized by a specific law
• Private online casino and sports betting have no authorization route and are subject to court-ordered blocking
• Only Polla Chilena and Lotería de Concepción may sell lottery and sports-prediction products online
• Land-based casinos are limited to SCJ-permitted venues under Law 19,995
• SII VAT registration by a foreign platform does not make its operation lawful

Chile iGaming market: size, players and payments

H2 Gambling Capital estimated Chilean online gambling revenue at about USD 650 million in 2025 (USD 380 million in 2024); the Centro de Estudios Públicos estimated unauthorized online GGR at CLP 431 billion (about USD 473 million) in 2025, about 35% of the whole gambling industry, while the regulated market (mostly land-based casinos) had gross revenue of CLP 787 billion.

No official participation survey; the SII published a list of about 20 foreign platforms operating in Chile in July 2026 and 39 had registered for VAT by September 2026.

Play is mobile-first; three brands accounted for about 70% of the audience of unauthorized platforms in 2024 according to a Yield Sec study commissioned by the operators' association aPAL.

Legal online supply is limited to Polla Chilena (Xperto) and Lotería de Concepción; the land-based sector has SCJ-permitted and municipal casinos represented by the ACCJ, whose members back regulation with strong enforcement.

Timeline: how Chile got here

1. 2004Law 19,995 creates the land-based casino regime and the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego
2. 2022-03Government files the online betting platforms bill (Boletín 14.838-03) in the Chamber of Deputies
3. 2023-09Supreme Court (Rol 152.138-2022) rules unauthorized online betting is proscribed and orders an ISP to block platforms
4. 2023-12Chamber of Deputies approves the bill in general and in detail; it moves to the Senate
5. 2025-08Senate approves the idea of legislating and sends the bill to the Economy and Finance committees
6. 2026-05Senate extends the amendment deadline to 29 May and agrees a technical working group with the executive
7. 2026-06SII Resolution 69 requires foreign online betting platforms to register for 19% digital VAT
8. 2026-09Subtel orders ISPs to block 42 unauthorized betting sites within 48 hours after a court ruling

Outlook

Passage of Boletín 14.838-03 remains the decisive event: as of September 2026 the Senate Economy Committee was still voting amendments before the Finance Committee and a floor vote, so a licensed market is unlikely before 2027 at the earliest. Enforcement is intensifying in the meantime through rolling DNS block lists, VAT withholding by card issuers and criminal complaints. Watch the final tax rate, the cooling-off rule for platforms that operated before the law, and the transition timetable once the text is settled.

GameBridge and Chile

Not served by GameBridge. Private online gambling has no authorization route in Chile and unauthorized platforms are blocked by court order, so GameBridge does not serve Chilean players; the position will be reviewed if Boletín 14.838-03 becomes law.

Chile is excluded by default in the geo-controls of every GameBridge brand, and this page exists so compliance teams can verify the current legal status quickly. Chilean IP ranges and addresses are blocked at registration and login, Chile is removed from payment-method country lists, and marketing tools reject Chilean targeting. If the pending law creates licences, GameBridge would support a Chilean-incorporated licence holder under the turnkey model with Spanish (Latin America) language, a CLP wallet, local payment connections on request and the certification package the new superintendency would require. Until then no configuration for Chilean residents is offered.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Regulación de plataformas de apuestas en línea: acuerdan conformar mesa técnica con el Ejecutivo — Senado de Chile, accessed 2026-09-11
• Normativas y tramitación del Boletín 14.838-03 — Asociación Chilena de Casinos de Juego, accessed 2026-09-11
• Resolución Exenta SII N° 69 de 2 de junio de 2026 — Servicio de Impuestos Internos, accessed 2026-09-11
• Apuestas en línea: SII suma 39 plataformas para el pago de IVA mientras Subtel continúa con los bloqueos — Diario Financiero, accessed 2026-09-11
• Estudio del CEP: casinos online representan en Chile un 35% de los ingresos de toda la industria de juegos de azar — La Tercera, accessed 2026-09-11
• Revelan que apuestas online en Chile suman US$650 millones en 2025 — Emol, accessed 2026-09-11
• Ordenan bloquear 42 sitios de apuestas online en Chile en 48 horas — Publimetro Chile, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.