Tax on Online Gaming Deposits Sparks Industry Concerns in Colombia

Colombia’s regulated online gaming sector faces an immediate financial shock as a new 19% levy on player deposits threatens to erase an estimated $350 million in annual gross revenue, jeopardize more than 3,000 direct and indirect jobs, and cede up to 20% of the formal market to unlicensed competitors. Enacted via a sweeping economic emergency decree, the tax has triggered alarm across Bogotá’s tech and entertainment corridors, where executives warn the measure will compress operating margins, stall infrastructure investment, and fundamentally reshape the country’s digital leisure economy.

Fecoljuegos, the national trade association representing licensed operators, has condemned the levy as a blunt fiscal instrument that overlooks the sector’s established structure. Since Colombia formalized its online gaming regulatory framework in 2016, policymakers have transformed a fragmented, unregulated market into a highly compliant industry that reliably contributes to municipal and federal coffers. Over the past decade, tax rates were carefully calibrated to balance revenue targets with robust consumer protections, a strategy that successfully expanded the formal employment base and attracted institutional capital.