Picture: La Tercera
Picture: La Tercera
The Undersecretary of Finance, Francisco Moreno, held meetings on Monday with the mayors who are members of the Association of Municipalities with Gambling Casinos, as well as with the Chilean Association of Gambling Casinos where they discussed the situation that the industry is experiencing in the context of the pandemic of COVID-19 and the decision was communicated to them.
If the law is approved, the extension of operating permits in force for a period of one year will be allowed to casino operators in exchange for a 5% increase in the gross income tax rate, thus reaching a total rate of 25% during said term.
Additionally, the power to develop remote gaming platforms by casinos will be incorporated exclusively within the perimeter of the comprehensive project, taking into account the global pandemic that is facing, which will facilitate the operation of casinos once sanitary conditions allow it.
“With this initiative we seek to protect the income of the municipalities and the regions in which the casinos are located. We are taking on the aspiration of all mayors, in order to guarantee truly competitive and beneficial processes with attractive economic offers for local governments. We do not want the processes for the renewal of operating permits to be carried out in adverse conditions that will end up affecting municipal revenues for the next 15 years,” said Moreno.
Another point of the project that will be presented is that it will allow the postponement in up to 12 months of the entry into operation of the casinos whose permits were granted during 2018 -which correspond to 5 of the 7 municipal casinos, including Iquique, Coquimbo, Viña del Mar, Puerto Varas and Coquimbo- in exchange for advancing to their respective municipalities the payment of the last 6 months of the economic offer defined in the law and thanks to which the tender was awarded.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Superintendency of Gambling Casinos (SCJ) ordered the entire industry to close casinos for an undetermined time, starting on March 18. Three months after that decision, the time to reopen remains unknown, however, the date would be September or October.
With a situation that affected the entire gaming industry in the country, different casino operators had requested a series of measures from the government, including postponing the new tender process for current licenses for a period of greater certainty and giving time to the economic recovery of the country.
Source: La Tercera (Chile)
