The Colombian government has brought back a tax on online gambling deposits as an emergency measure to address severe flooding affecting eight provinces.
The consumption tax was created via emergency decrees published last Thursday, with a rate of 16%.
It will apply only to online operators that offer local services, regardless of whether they are located in Colombia or overseas. The tax will be charged on cash deposits placed by each bettor into online games of chance.
The decrees, which were signed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, also aimed to add COP8.6 trillion ($2.3 billion) to the country’s 2026 budget.
Petro, who will complete his four-year term this year before elections in May, experienced a significant defeat in late 2025 when his initial 2026 budget plan was turned down.
A modified budget was subsequently approved, though it was COP10 trillion less than the original proposal. The administration has now stated that the reduced amount is “inadequate for the yearly allocation for disaster and public emergency assistance.”
Consequently, gambling operators are once again confronted with an additional levy beyond Colombia’s regular 15% gambling tax.
Colombian gambling sector under renewed tax scrutiny
Colombia’s licensed gambling industry encountered intense tax burdens in 2025, as the government implemented an emergency value-added tax (VAT) on deposits in February of that year at a 19% rate.
This measure was a reaction to civil unrest in the Catatumbo region, with authorities stating they required extra resources to handle such incidents.
In April 2025, the Colombian Federation of Gambling Entrepreneurs cautioned that Colombia’s online gross gaming revenue (GGR) had declined by 30% following the VAT’s implementation.
This development was especially harmful to Colombia’s health sector, which had obtained COP990 billion from gambling taxes in 2024.
Nevertheless, the government’s efforts to make the VAT permanent previously failed after the Senate’s Fourth Committee rejected its Financing Law in December.
And even though the VAT was changed from being based on deposits to being based on GGR, that emergency decree was subsequently suspended in January by the Colombian Constitutional Court due to constitutional concerns.
It is yet to be determined what examination this new attempt to enforce a gambling tax will undergo. However, the government maintains that it has the authority to impose it in reaction to a separate emergency.
“The implementation of tax measures during a previous emergency does not bar the national government from applying them again in a later exceptional circumstance to tackle a distinct crisis,” the decree stated.