The Executive Power is considering the possibility of transferring the supervision of the National Gambling Commission to the DNIT through the introduction of a bill.
Paraguay.- Within the framework of the presentation of the 2025 budget of the National Directorate of Tax Revenues (DNIT) to the Bicameral Budget Committee, it was revealed that the Paraguayan Executive Power is studying the transfer of the supervision of the National Gambling Commission (Conajzar) to the DNIT.
Óscar Orué, head of the DNIT, announced that the President of the Republic, Santiago Peña, is concerned about the situation of gambling and revealed that they might present a project to the National Congress for Conajzar to depend on the DNIT, with the goal of improving control levels over the companies in the sector.
According to the local media Market Data, the official explained that the DNIT has already sanctioned several companies in the sector due to controls carried out, although he admitted that these measures might not be sufficient. "Once the structure of the institution is improved, we will be able to achieve what is being proposed," Orué stated.
The bill that would transfer the supervision of Conajzar to the DNIT will be presented to the National Congress, where it is expected to drive improvements in the administrative structure and in the control levels of this entity. Orué also referred to the judicial obstacles that these processes face, noting that the companies in the sector resort to legal maneuvers that make it difficult for the state to sanction them properly.
This information emerged after Senator Esperanza Martínez expressed her concern regarding Conajzar and the companies linked to the gambling sector, pointing out that it is “a shame that these companies, such as those operating lotteries, casinos, and draws, evade taxes”.
It should be noted that according to the budget project, in terms of fiscal canon next year would bring in G. 149.676m (USD18.8m), a 2 percent increase from the G. 146.428m (USD18.4m) estimated for this year, according to law N° 7.228 of the PGN 2024.
See also: Progress in the Paraguayan Senate debate on a new project to regulate gambling
Last week, the National Gambling Commission (Conajzar) disclosed, through the Ministry of Finance, the financial results for the month of September and it was demonstrated that the industry continues to rise, as it reached an unprecedented record.
The figure reported by the agency for the first nine months of the year was G.127.855m (USD16.1m), 9.8 percent higher than the collection of the same period last year, which had been G.116.380m.
It is worth remembering that by mandate of the law 1016/1997, the resources from gambling are allocated at all levels of official administration to the sectors of public health, school education, and social welfare.
The institution is responsible for the planning, control, and oversight of gambling, the activities of individuals or legal entities dedicated to its exploitation, as well as the interjurisdictional relations emerging from the activity.
