Though iGaming is not regulated on a federal level yet, Argentina’s government has laid out plans to impose a higher rate of tax for online gaming next year.
Both the city and province of Buenos Aires is working towards launching safe and regulated markets here. However, there has been no progress from other provinces to introduce such regulation.
Minister of Finance Martín Guzmán has put forward the initiative. The taxes for online gaming will be raised from 2% to 5%, with 95% of the revenue raised from this tax expected to go to the provinces of Argentina. The remaining 5% is expected to be given to the Argentinian state telecoms company Arsat.
Online gaming is thought to generate approximately $2.4 billion in revenue in Argentina each year. With the business still not fully regulated, there are next to no contributions to the state. Such revenue from an online gaming tax could be given to each province to help with projects there.
This online gaming tax arose following a law in 2016. It is applied to games of chance and the individual bets made here. The government plan to be able to identify online bets using SIM cards and IP addresses. Arsat will help by monitoring data and activity.
If wider regulation can be introduced across Argentina, this will have many benefits. In addition to raising money for the state to use to improve infrastructure, citizens can benefit from wider protection from the law in regards to online gaming. With plans to introduce this tax to other provinces too, we should hopefully see regulations for iGaming introduced here too.
