The Ministry of Finance of Colombia has announced that it will publish a new “Tax Budget Proposal” by the end of July, to apply or amend fiscal measures across core industries including gambling.

The proposal has been announced as a new “medium-term fiscal framework”, to support the coalition government to stabilize inflation and maintain funding for key social programmes.

Finance Minister Germán Ávila outlined the reform as critical to closing fiscal gaps in Colombia’s public spending and boosting state revenue amid a year of difficult macroeconomic conditions. The tax proposal aims to raise between $19.6bn and $25.4bn, equivalent to approximately €18.3bn to €23.7bn, depending on parliamentary support and economic performance.

Divisions on VAT status
The reform package will include a sweeping review of Colombia’s tax policy, with particular emphasis on the Value Added Tax (VAT) structure, as well as duties related to carbon emissions, online gambling, and consumption of fuel. The proposal is part of President Gustavo Petro’s wider economic strategy to reduce the deficit while financing regional stability and welfare initiatives.

The Finance Ministry has reaffirmed its position on the 19% VAT levy applied to online gambling deposits, introduced earlier this year under Decree 175 of 2025. Initially framed as an emergency economic measure, the gambling VAT was enacted to support humanitarian relief and public security operations in Catatumbo, a region destabilised by renewed guerrilla conflict.

The tax was applied as a “temporary measure” due to expire on 31 December 2025, applied abruptly across all customer deposits made to licensed online gambling and sports betting platforms. The tax was implemented alongside a 1% levy on coal and gas sales, and a 1% stamp duty on large securities transactions, forming a three-pronged effort to reinforce Petro’s COL$523trn (circa €120bn) social-focused budget.

Despite the tax’s temporary status, the General Attorney of Colombia has called for the 19% VAT on gambling to be maintained. In a public address, Attorney General Gregorio Eljach defended the legality of the measure, stating that the decree is “proportional to the emergency” and consistent with constitutional principles. Eljach further urged the Constitutional Court to uphold the tax, arguing that it represents a vital revenue stream in regions under threat from armed groups.

“The measures adopted in Decree 175 do not discriminate and are proportional to the emergency,” Eljach said. “They are vital to safeguarding fundamental rights and supporting public order efforts.”

Colombia Gambling losing consumers
Nevertheless, the policy has met growing resistance from the industry. According to Fecoljuegos, the national trade body for licensed gambling operators, the introduction of the deposit VAT resulted in a 30% drop in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in the first month following its implementation. Stakeholders have voiced concern that the tax has driven players toward offshore and unlicensed platforms that evade the levy altogether.

Evert Montero Cárdenas, President of Fecoljuegos, warned that the continued application of the deposit-based VAT risks damaging one of Latin America’s most successful regulated gambling markets. “Players are actively avoiding the tax by shifting to unlicensed platforms. Operators have tried to absorb costs and offer bonuses, but the downturn is stark,” he said.

Fecoljuegos has stated that its members are willing to present alternative measures to support the government, which would not require predatory tax charges on customer deposits.

Colombian incumbents have expressed significant concern about the structure of the tax itself. Stockholm-listed betting technology firm Kambi, which holds a significant presence in Colombia, noted that taxing deposits — rather than net revenue — has created “significant headwinds” and has had an immediate impact on operating volume.

Tax on Polluting Industries
From a broader fiscal standpoint, the Ministry of Finance is expected to prioritise energy and fuel consumption taxes in the upcoming proposal. Deputy Minister Carlos Emilio Betancourt has indicated that duties on polluting activities, such as pesticide use, vaping products, and industrial emissions, are under review.

These environmental taxes are viewed as both revenue-generating tools and incentives for behavioural change in line with Colombia’s long-term sustainability goals.

Betancourt also reaffirmed that up to COL$135trn in annual tax expenditure is under scrutiny, with VAT exemptions accounting for approximately 65% of that amount.

As such, the Ministry is considering restructuring the VAT system to broaden the tax base without disproportionately affecting low-income households. Potential adjustments include revising the 5% reduced VAT rate on essential goods and reassessing exemptions on education and health-related services.

Petro has final say
While the government insists that its proposals will not erode fundamental rights or market stability, the VAT on gambling deposits has emerged as a symbol of the broader political tensions within the coalition. Critics within President Petro’s own governing bloc have questioned the long-term viability of the tax, warning that it could undermine digital entrepreneurship and drive formal operators into financial distress.

Ultimately, the future of the gambling VAT is likely to be settled by President Petro himself, as he attempts to govern an increasingly divided coalition. Internal disputes over fiscal priorities, cabinet appointments, and the balance between social spending and economic competitiveness have raised questions about the administration’s ability to maintain a coherent legislative strategy through 2025.

The Ministry of Finance maintains that the full text of the Tax Budget Proposal will be published before the end of July, with congressional debate expected to begin in the second half of the year. For Colombia’s regulated industries, including gambling, the next few months will prove pivotal in determining the long-term tax environment under Petro’s presidency.

Some countries are on their way to be taken off the EU AML risk list, including Gibraltar and the UAE – two hotspots for the gambling sector.

The amendments were introduced by a Commission Delegated Regulation, and are expected to enter the Official Journal of the EU if the European Parliament or the Council of the EU do not object to them.

Individual jurisdiction assessments correspond to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) proprietary analysis, which has delisted the same countries from its own high-risk money laundering list.

Gibraltar
The UK Overseas Territory is one of the eight countries that have satisfied the EU and the FATF risk assessments.

This includes evidenced improvement of strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, supported by meaningful changes to regulatory and legal frameworks.

As a result, Gibraltar is no longer required to apply enhanced due diligence measures within international business relations due to gaining a reduced risk profile, significantly lessening administrative red tape for companies wanting to do business there – including those from the gambling sector.

However, some experts have followed Gibraltar’s delisting with scepticism. For one, Malta Media highlighted that the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unity (GFIU) has reported 1,498 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in the first three months of 2025.

The media additionally noted that 50% of these SARs “originated from online gambling operators”, while more than 677 were tagged as potential money laundering cases.

In that sense, Malta Media questioned whether Gibraltar’s practical enforcement outweighed the actions put down on paper, with formal compliance “often assessed through regulatory frameworks, rather than practical outcomes.”

UAE
The AML risk delisting will also be great news for the United Arab Emirates, with the country currently in the process of expanding its gambling market – in a strategy that aims to diversify its economy and potentially multiply the profits from what is already a booming tourism sector.

Efforts towards this path were first made official with the establishment of the UAE’s very own General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) back in 2023.

The first commercial gaming licence was handed to international gambling and hospitality conglomerate Wynn Resorts. Given the EU’s latest assessment of the country, more investor interest is guaranteed to follow soon.

Policymakers in Bulgaria have drafted a proposal to tighten control of consumer online gambling spend and behaviour.

The proposal was put forward by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Healthcare, with the texts calling for mandatory game session limits, a cap on wager amounts, as well as a ceiling on accumulated losses within a 24-hour period.

Age-based session limits
Both Ministries are calling for a maximum of four hours for game sessions per customer. This would fall within the responsibility of the iGaming operators to impose.

For customers under 24 years of age, this limit would be set at two hours per game session.

Each player would be able to ask for either an extension or a reduction in the time limit within that four-hour bracket. Requests for extensions are to be granted at the discretion of each operator, not earlier than 24 hours after the request has been made.

Customer requests for a reduction in the time limit are to be granted immediately by operators.

The clock on each game session starts counting the second a customer logs into their account. When a time limit is reached, operators will be required to inform the customer and log them out of their account.

Exceeding the limit will be possible in certain scenarios, such as participation in tournaments, but operators will again immediately log players out as soon as the tournament is over.

There will be a 15-minute cooling off period before players can log in again after they’ve reached their session limit, with the operator subsequently providing safer gambling messages and information about the national self-exclusion registry.

Loss limits
Further RG measures include a mandatory loss limit within a 24-hour period set by players.

All players will be asked by operators to agree to be signed into the national self-exclusion registry for a period of seven days if the 24-hour loss limit is reached. Players will not be allowed to gamble if they refuse to opt in.

The maximum amount of losses allowed within a 24-hour period will correlate to 10 average monthly salaries within the private sector, based on figures from the National Statistics Office from the year prior.

For everyone under 24 years of age, this amount will be set to a maximum of five average monthly salaries. Operators will be required to clearly communicate these figures with players by displaying them on their online platforms.

Again, loss limits can be increased or decreased within the given spectrum – with requests for an increase granted by operators no less than 24 hours, while requests for a decrease granted immediately.

Notifications will be automatically sent out when a customer reaches 50%, 75%, and 100% of their set limit.

When 100% is reached, operators will be required to automatically put the customer on the self-exclusion registry for a period of seven days.

Wager size capped
All operators will be required to introduce a maximum wagering limit across their iGaming portfolios, to be set by the player.

For players over 24, the total wagering limit across all games on a specific platform for a period of 24 hours must not exceed 20 average monthly salaries. For under-24s, this limit is 10 salaries.

Wager caps for individual games will depend on the hours of the day they are played in, with the set periods being between 6am and 8pm, and 8pm and 6am.

Deadline for consultations
The above proposals will be open for stakeholder consultations until 5 July. If accepted, the draft will become the latest step in Bulgaria’s active efforts to build a more sustainable gambling sector.