Lottery Commission estimates that the 96% of the sales in Venezuela are illegal

During the II Forum of the New Law to tax games of chance activities, held in Barcelona. President of Conalot, José Gregorio Chacón, commented that just three or four percent of the lottery sales that operate in the entity comply with the legal norms.

He admitted that they could not count the exact number of companies dedicated to that activity because there were people that sent false information for the registration. He considers that this situation is due to the fact that there is not an official lottery.

On June 29th, it finished the deadline to subscribe to Conalot regisry. “However, only 20 thousand agencias have been legalized in the country”, pointed Chacón. He estimates that around us$ 9.3 million and us$ 11.6 are bet in the country on lotteries, while the tax payment is null.

During the forum, people were informed about the tax on the National Lottery Law, in force since 2005, and Ruling N° 469, published on August 1st, 2007. This activity has also been complied in Caracas, Zulia, Táchira and Monagas. “Once the information week finished, those business that do not comply with the law will be closed”, warned Germán Guzmán, Regional Manager of Domestic Taxes.

Chacón explained that the sales in games and bets owe money to the Integrated National Service of Customs and Tax Administration (Seniat). Due to the delay, Guzmán pointed that cancellation will be demanded in the follwing weeks.