Brazil raises taxes, Colombia shifts VAT, Philippine police crack down, and Czech black market thrives

Brazil introduces a gradual tax rise scheme after a lucrative first year, Colombia shifts 19% VAT from deposits to GGR, Philippine police step up their hunt for rogue POGOs, and the Czech market is flooded with offshore sites.

Brazil rings in 2026 with higher taxes

The Brazilian market has drawn plenty of well-deserved attention since online gambling was legalized in early 2025.

While the size of the market and Brazil’s cultural love of betting make the country prime real estate for iGaming brands, some operators have complained that their margins are squeezed by an excessive overall tax burden.

And that squeeze is about to get a little tighter — but not as tight as it could have been.

In mid-December, the Senate voted to approve a bill (PLP 128/2025) that will not only cut federal tax benefits for a number of sectors by 10%, but also increase the tax rate on gambling operators. The approval came less than 24 hours after the bill was approved by the chamber of deputies.

The bill dictates that the tax rate will rise from 12% to 13% in 2026, then 14% in 2027, and 15% in 2028. Half of the proceeds from the increase will go towards social security, while the other half will be devoted to healthcare.

In Brazil, new or increased taxes only go into effect 90 days after they’re published, so operators will have 3 months ahead of time to adjust.

While no one ever wants to hear “higher taxes,” there is a silver lining here; they easily could have been higher. The Senate Economic Affairs Committee had approved a tax rate of 15% to 18%. One bill, introduced by Senator Renan Calheiros, aimed to raise the GGR tax all the way to 24%.

The bill went to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for his final approval, which he gave in early January — though he later decried the rapid expansion of the online market in remarks given during a ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the creation of the minimum wage in Brazil.

He’s certainly correct in thinking that the market is expanding quickly. Brazil’s first year of regulation yielded some impressive — though not surprising — results.

According to numbers released from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets, 25.2 million bettors playing on 79 licensed betting companies generated BRL 37 billion ($7 billion) in the year after the regulated market was opened on January 1, 2025.

In that same time frame, licensees paid around BRL 2.5 billion ($475 million) in license fees and the Federal Revenue Service collected nearly BRL 10 billion ($1.9 billion) in tax revenues.

Colombia shifts VAT from deposits to GGR

Operators in Colombia have reason to celebrate — authorities have tweaked taxes in their favor.

Starting in February 2025, authorities in Colombia levied a 19% VAT on player deposits, sparking an outcry from operators. These kinds of taxes — player deposit, turnover, etc. — are widely criticized for, in the words of trade organization Fecoljuegos, failing to “reflect the sector’s economic reality.” As a result, they often hamstring the legitimate industry’s ability to grow, thereby opening doors for black market operators.

The tax was implemented via an emergency measure and scheduled to end on December 31, 2025. Soon after it came into effect, however, operators noted a decline in deposits and betting activity, and the tax was publicly criticized by trade bodies such as Fecoljuegos, which reported that GGR had dropped by as much as 30%. Fecoljuegos, among others, called for the tax to be on GGR, not deposits.

Things came to a head when a bill was introduced that would make the tax permanent. The bill, however, was defeated in the Senate, and the 19% VAT on deposits rightfully expired on December 31, 2025.

Instead, legislation introduced in January shifted the tax from deposits to GGR — where it belongs. Fecoljuegos welcomed the news, stating that the tax “acknowledges, for the first time, the true math of the business,” and that “the sector is transitioning from a profoundly disproportionate system, where the tax burden could exceed 70% of real income, to a scenario with a tax burden of approximately 34% on gross revenue,” though going on to note that iGaming brands in Colombia face a tax burden that is “well above international averages.”

Colombia was the first nation in Latin America to regulate online gambling, and tax revenues are usually used in areas like healthcare and other aspects of the national budget. The 19% deposit tax, however, was applied specifically to support humanitarian and peacekeeping efforts in the conflict-stricken Catatumbo region.

Philippine police hunt down remaining POGOs

The Philippine National Police has tasked agents around the country to ratchet up their efforts to stamp out POGOs.

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. banned the country’s once-famous Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs) a year and a half ago, ordering that they be shut by December 2024. However, many of them have carried on.

POGOs had been a major feature of the offshore landscape, especially when it came to the ones that targeted Chinese players, often with native Chinese-speaking live dealers. However, while they flourished for a long time, they were too often found to be linked to criminal activities, leading to the ban.

However, the ban has not been entirely effective. In some cases, POGOs have continued to operate in the Philippines, avoiding official detection. In other cases, POGO operators have decamped to other countries. In one instance, an operator brought Philippine workers to Cambodia, promising them $1000 a month, then paying them $300 a month to act as online romance scammers.

At the same time, the government is making a broader effort to expand and stabilize the legitimate industry. PAGCOR has introduced strict measures such as the mandatory de-linking of e-wallets from gaming platforms to protect minors and vulnerable players, and in mid-December, the regulator announced that a nationwide, round-the-clock problem gambling helpline would be launched in 2026.

Czech black market booms

According to a new study, the Czech government misses out on over CZK 330 million ($15.9 million) in tax revenue every month due to players visiting black-market sites instead of licensed ones — often unknowingly.

This translates to players losing CZK 14.5 billion — and the state losing around CZK 4 billion — every year.

According to the 2026 Black Book of Illegal Gambling, a report by Robert Klobuck of the Sociological Institute at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, an estimated 400,000 Czechs knowingly gamble with unlicensed operators, while a further 400,000 don’t know which operators are licensed and which aren’t.

In some countries, high rates of black market participation are a result of tight restrictions placed on operators, such as ad bans and bonus limits. However, neither of those are the case in the Czech Republic. The issue here seems to be the sheer volume of black market sites available.

While there are between 20 and 30 online licensees currently operating in the country, it’s estimated that there are over 1000 illegal platforms that target Czech players. While several of the licensed sportsbook brands are big, well-known names — Sazka, Fortuna — the same isn’t quite true for smaller casinos, making it harder for players to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed brands.

On the other hand, a 2024 study from the Danish Gambling Authority, in collaboration with H2 Gambling Capital found, channelization rates in the Czech Republic to consistently rank among the highest in Europe, ranging from 96.56% in 2022 to 97.43% in 2024.

A study from the National Monitoring Center for Drugs and Addictions found that as many as 56% of Czechs had participated in some form of gambling in the past 12 months, with 17-18% gambling online.