Colombia’s government wants to put a 19% VAT on online gambling deposits under a new economic reform bill sent to Congress on October 29. The measure sits within Bill 477/2026C, the Economic Rescue Law, which aims to raise more government revenue and steady public finances, and it would also push up taxes on gambling winnings and hand authorities more enforcement powers against operators that don’t comply. None of it has been approved yet, with the bill still going through Congress.
Article 41 lays out how the VAT would work, applying it to money deposited into online betting accounts, whether through bank transfers or cryptocurrencies. The taxable amount would be worked out by dividing each deposit by 1.19, so a COP 119,000 deposit would contain COP 19,000 in VAT. Operators would be on the hook for paying it, including companies based abroad that offer gambling to Colombian residents, and the tax would be charged on deposits rather than on gambling revenue or operator profits.
The Ministry of Finance expects the VAT to bring in around COP 2 trillion ($520 million) in extra revenue in 2027, with average annual collections of COP 2.26 trillion projected between 2028 and 2030. Colombia already charges a temporary 16% consumption tax on online gambling for 2026, but that one is calculated on gross gaming revenue, the difference between total bets and prizes paid out. The proposed VAT would hit deposits instead, no matter how much gambling revenue an operator ends up making.
Evert Montero Cárdenas, president of trade association Fecoljuegos, warned that small and midsize operators could struggle to absorb more tax, which could leave them less able to compete with unlicensed platforms. The association is putting together a counterproposal for the Ministry of Finance and congressional committees. Montero said the industry accepts it needs to contribute to public finances but wants taxation to reflect the conditions licensed gambling businesses actually operate under.
The bill would also raise the tax on lottery, raffle, and betting winnings from 20% to 30%. Operators running physical venues would see their VAT calculations change too, with higher taxable bases for slot machines, casino tables, and bingo seats. For ordinary slot machines, the monthly taxable base would double from 20 to 40 tax value units (UVT), and gaming tables would go from 290 to 580 UVT, while traditional lotteries would stay exempt from VAT.
Other provisions would give DIAN, Colombia’s tax authority, the power to order blocks on online gambling websites that don’t comply with mandatory technical control systems. Those restrictions could cover both domestic and foreign operators, with internet service providers required to carry out the orders, giving the government a firmer grip on tax enforcement and more revenue from companies serving Colombian customers.
Colombia has been down this road before, introducing a temporary 19% VAT on online gambling in 2025, while a separate attempt to tax gambling revenue through an emergency decree was struck down by the Constitutional Court in April 2026. The new proposal would set up the tax on deposits through ordinary legislation instead. Bill 477/2026C still needs to clear congressional scrutiny and win approval in both chambers, and its provisions could shift during negotiations. Government revenue projections start in 2027, but the draft doesn’t give a separate start date for the gambling VAT.