Peru's Congress Approves a Series of Gambling Law Amendments

The Peruvian Congress has recently approved revisions to the pending Gambling Law of 2022. In the new reforms, the parliamentarians look to seal any legislative gaps in the regulated online betting and gambling industry. 

These reforms come after industry stakeholders raised concerns about the Gambling Law of 2022, stating that the law was hurriedly passed. Critics cite multiple loopholes that could provide offshore betting companies with reasons to evade paying taxes.

During the sitting, the new law sailed through unopposed, with 105 legislators voting to revise Article 40. Following this move, all regulated betting operators, both local and foreign, must pay 11.76% of their gross revenues in taxes. 

Lady Mercedes Camones, a parliamentarian and ex-Congress member from APP, proposed the amendments. She declared: 

"The initiative aims to ensure tax collection, prevent money laundering, verify that customers participate safely in this activity and collect the corresponding tax."

In addition, the law seeks to increase the minimum financial assurance that legal operators in the country must pay. Initially, the companies would pay 200 Peruvian tax units (nearly $270,000). However, the new law seeks to almost triple this rate to 600 Peruvian tax units (more than $500,000).

Foreigners to Register and Gamble on Local Operators

In what will be good news for operators and foreigners in Peru, the new law seeks to allow foreign residents and tourists to join the country's digital gaming space. The idea is to create a more inclusive gambling space. Previously, the law only allowed Peruvian nationals to participate in sports betting and casino games.

Meanwhile, the regulation will look to expand the domain acceptance for legal online gambling operators. Rather than using a single domain (like bet.pe) as provided in the previous law, operators will use multiple domain URLs, including:

• .com.pe
• .pe
• .bet
• .bet.pe

The government says that broadening the use of URL domains will minimize migration costs.

The legislation will also revamp the Peruvian Penal Code, making it a criminal offense for online operators to conduct business without a legit license. Breaking this law exposes operators to a prison term of 1-4 years. 

Carlos Fonseca Sarmiento, a Peruvian gaming lawyer, has raised concerns about the 120-day transition period. He says this window is too short for offshore operators to switch to offering legal gambling services. This is even as Peru's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism anticipates increasing gaming license requests from foreign businesses.

The government anticipates that the revised law will boost revenues, with Madeleine Burns, the National Vice Minister of Tourism, stating that the new legal structure could yield $160 million annually. This amount will fund the tourism, sports, and health areas.