President Gustavo Petro’s government issued Decree 0240 on March 12, 2026. It includes a 16% national consumption tax on online gambling as part of a broader set of temporary fiscal measures that aim to raise funds under the emergency framework created after severe flooding. According to the government, the approved budget did not fully support disaster response needs, so a new package was introduced.
The same package also includes temporary tax relief, a 19% normalization levy on undeclared assets, and changes affecting foreign company branches and permanent establishments. That indicates that the government is not targeting gambling in isolation but rather as a prominent part of a broader, crisis-led effort to increase revenue.
Why the Industry Is Unlikely to Treat It as a Routine Change
The concern for operators, though, is not the tax rate itself, but the trend it indicates. The regulated betting industry in Colombia was already subject to a 19% VAT rate in 2025. The industry group, Fecoljuegos, states that a previous instance of emergency tax legislation resulted in a 30% fall in online gross gaming revenue. The episode became a warning sign for operators who believe that repeated emergency tax measures may do more harm to the regulated market than good for revenue growth.
This recent decision occurs in a sensitive legal moment. Back in January 2026, Colombia’s Constitutional Court suspended a previous emergency measure related to Petro’s budget plans. This is not a ruling on Decree 0240 itself, but it does suggest that any new tax measure introduced through emergency powers will be carefully watched by operators and legal experts.
What to Watch Next
For the time being, the big question is whether this tax will stay long enough to produce the revenue that the government is expecting. Looking forward, things get more complex: if the tax is here to stay, operators may start to see Colombia as a place where the rules can change with each new crisis. And that concern is not limited to taxes but is related to the broader question of regulatory stability.
