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Colombia's licensed online gambling operators are preparing mitigation strategies as a stinging deposit tax takes effect.
Stake Colombia has announced that it will be crediting players for the 19 percent emergency value added tax (VAT) on deposits made on its Colombian site, as enacted via a presidential decree earlier this month.
In a statement, Stake country manager Diana Otálora said that “users are our top priority, and that's why we have to adapt to the government's measure regarding the 19 percent tax and comply with the required deadlines".
“Therefore, we are adopting internal measures so that our customers can continue playing without being affected by this situation.”
The "situation" Otálora referred to is an emergency VAT imposed by the government on online gambling deposits, to raise funds for the public-security disaster in the Catatumbo region. Guerilla warfare has been rampant in the region home to drug and human trafficking since mid-January.
Stake said it will offer a cashback VAT promotion which will reward users with a cash bonus equal to the amount discounted for VAT on their deposits.
Meanwhile, Rush Street Interactive has warned in a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that the new tax could affect the company's revenue from Colombia.
The operator of the Rushbet brand said it was “actively anticipating certain actions that may, among other things, help reduce operating and marketing expenses to partially offset potential future impacts on the company’s revenue”.
The Colombian market accounts for 13.3 percent of Rush Street Interactive’s total annual revenue.
The emergency tax is valid for 90 days with the possibility of two extensions, each for 90 days a piece.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro first tried to institute VAT on online gambling in Colombia's 2025 budget, but was shut down by lawmakers. Instead, he turned to an emergency decree.
Under Colombian law, all emergency presidential decrees are automatically subject to potential review by the country's Constitutional Court.
The Constitutional Court has requested to review a different decree that governs education under the powers given by the so-called “State of Internal Commotion”, which gives the President emergency powers.
The concerns that flagged the review were the relevance to the crisis in Catatumbo. Similar questions could be aimed at the gambling VAT decree.
The crisis in Colombia has seen more than 50,000 people displaced internally as they escape the violence. According to the United Nations, another 30,000 are either confined or trapped in areas that humanitarian access cannot reach.
