With the approval of the Petro tax reform, one of the most important changes in terms of prizes in games of chance in Colombia is the one that touches on occasional prizes.
According to the Ministry of Finance, when presenting the tax reform project, rates were lower than the general maximum marginal rate of the tax, "which affects the principle of equity."
The Government's proposal was to eliminate exempt income from betting prizes and horse or dog competitions, along with lotteries and games of chance, corresponding to an exemption currently in force of 410 UVT and 48 UVT, respectively. With the approval as it was, when receiving payments of lottery prizes, bets and the like, "the natural or legal persons in charge of making the payment will apply a 20% retention on account at the time of payment."
For Evert Montero Cárdenas, head of Fecoljuegos, “what is going to be achieved with this reform for the gaming sector, finally, is to lead a large number of users of this activity to bet on illegal platforms that do not make any type of retention. I believe that this is an alert that must be taken into account and that, of course, will affect activity in some way, and everything that affects this activity directly affects the generation of resources for the health of Colombians, which is the destination of the taxes paid by the sector".
In addition, it should be noted that a strong economic slowdown is expected in Colombia by 2023, so it is likely that the cut in family and personal expenses will start with entertainment and gambling. "These are non-primary activities in homes, and they are the first to be affected," said Montero.
