Guatemala: gambling regulation and licensing
- Online sports bettingProhibited
- Online casinoProhibited
- Online pokerProhibited
- iLotteryMonopoly
- Land-based (reference)Prohibited
- Regulator
- Ministerio de Gobernación
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- Yes
- Last verified
- 23 Sept 2026
Summary
Guatemala has no gambling law, no gambling regulator and no gambling licence. The operative rules are three articles of the Penal Code in force since September 1973: running a house of games of luck, stake or chance carries one to five years' imprisonment and a fine of Q1,000 to Q10,000, attending one a fine of Q200 to Q2,000, and selling tickets for an unauthorised lottery or raffle Q50 to Q1,000. What is lawful is narrow. The Lotería Santa Lucía, authorised by decree in 1956 to fund the Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos, draws before Interior Ministry and Contraloría representatives and has sold whole tickets online. Departmental governors license individual raffles, bingos and prize promotions under a 1966 decree and a 1956 regulation, with a prize bond and a notarised draw. An Interior Ministry legal opinion of 2006 held that nothing beyond ticket draws may be authorised and that the foundation permits under which video-lottery halls ran as casinos should be revoked. Prizes are taxed as capital income at 10%, withheld by the payer. Two licensing bills were filed and never enacted: Iniciativa 4294 of 2011, with a gaming superintendency and a 3% monthly tax on gross gaming income, and Iniciativa 4685 of 2013, with a unit inside the tax authority and a 5% tax. The newest, Iniciativa 6645 of October 2025, goes the other way, adding five to ten years for passing slot machines off as toys or other unregulated goods and for premises that dress virtual slots up as lotteries. Enforcement is by raid and seizure: 230 machines and Q64,147 taken in 161 raids in San Marcos in June 2025.
Common pitfalls
Describing Guatemala as unregulated: running a gaming house is a criminal offence for the operator, and attending one is an offence for the player, not a gap. Treating the 2011 bill as law: Iniciativa 4294 was never enacted and no Superintendencia de Juegos de Azar exists. Reading a departmental raffle licence as a gaming licence: it covers one ticket draw with a notarised public drawing and nothing else. Assuming a gaming tax rate: the only rate on the statute book is the 10% withholding on prizes; the 3% and 5% figures are from unenacted bills.
Key facts
- Regulator
- Ministerio de Gobernación (Mingob)
- Regulator type
- Government ministry
- Headline tax
- Not yet verified
- Licence required
- Yes
- Minimum age
- Not yet verified
- Tax base
- No gaming tax exists because no gaming is licensed. Lottery, raffle, draw and bingo prizes are rentas de capital taxed at 10% by withholding (Decreto 10-2012 articles 84, 92 and 94); free promotional draws are exempt from tax under Decreto 1610 article 8. The unenacted 2011 bill proposed a monthly 3% tax on gross gaming income and the 2013 bill a monthly 5%.
Legal framework
Primary statutes
Código Penal, Decreto 17-73, Título XV De los juegos ilícitos (articles 477 to 479)
Código Penal
- Year
- 1973
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- Article 477: bankers, administrators, entrepreneurs, managers and other persons in charge, and the owners, of houses of games of luck, stake or chance (juegos de suerte, envite o azar) are punished with one to five years' imprisonment and a fine of Q1,000 to Q10,000. Article 478: persons attending such houses are fined Q200 to Q2,000. Article 479: entrepreneurs and sellers of tickets for lotteries or raffles not legally authorised are fined Q50 to Q1,000. The Code was approved on 5 July 1973 and entered into force on 15 September 1973. These three articles are the whole of Guatemala's gambling law for casino-style games and are the basis on which the Interior Ministry's legal opinion 0087-2006 held that video lotteries and similar games cannot be authorised.
Decreto 1610 del Congreso, 7 September 1966, commercial and industrial promotions with prizes by lot
- Year
- 1966
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- Prize promotions, collectable albums, contests and free public spectacles with prizes by lot need a licence from the departmental governor, applied for in writing with the full mechanics; the governor decides within eight days of a complete application and may require the details in a notarial deed (articles 1 and 2). The approved plan cannot be changed without approval (article 3). Draws take place before the governor or a representative and a notary and may be combined with the Lotería Nacional (article 5); prizes not delivered within six months go to charity (article 7); free draws are exempt from tax (article 8); the organiser's owners, directors, staff and their families may not take part (article 9); breaches carry fines of Q100 to Q1,000, or double an undelivered prize, and may bar further draws (article 10); organisers post a bond covering the prizes and may not raise the price of the promoted product (article 11); unauthorised changes can suspend the promotion (article 12). The Catálogo de Trámites cites it with the 1956 regulation as the legal basis for today's departmental raffle licences.
Ley de Actualización Tributaria, Decreto 10-2012, Libro I Impuesto Sobre la Renta
- Year
- 2012
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- Article 84 classes prizes from lotteries, raffles, draws, bingos and similar events as rentas de capital, valued at open-market value where not paid in cash; article 92 sets the rate at 10%; article 94 requires the payer to withhold and remit within the first ten days of the following month. Article 36 sets the general 25% income tax on business profits. Book I took effect on 1 January 2013 (article 181).
Secondary instruments
- Year
- 1956
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- The executive regulation under which departmental governors license private lotteries, raffles and games. The Catálogo de Trámites cites it as the legal basis together with article 28 of the Constitution, the income tax law and articles 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10 and 12 of Decreto 1610. Text not retrieved.
Decreto 577 of 1956 authorising the Lotería Santa Lucía
- Year
- 1956
- In force
- Yes
- Summary
- Authorised the Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala to run the Lotería Santa Lucía to fund its hospitals, schools and rehabilitation programmes, per the lottery's own account; the 2013 bill confirms the lottery as one authorised by the Interior Ministry. Decree text not retrieved.
Pending legislation
Iniciativa 6645, Reformas al Código Penal para regular los juegos de azar y máquinas tragamonedas
- Stage
- Presented to the Pleno on 7 October 2025 and referred to the Comisión de Gobernación for study and opinion; the Congreso status pages could not be reached to confirm any later step
- What it changes
- Adds article 358 E (tax fraud through slot machines and gambling equipment imported or sold as toys or unregulated goods: five to ten years and a fine of double the tax evaded, equipment destroyed), 477 bis (immediate closure of premises running slot machines or gambling equipment; owners two to five years and a fine of double the equipment value, three to seven years more on repeat), 477 ter (premises admitting minors to gambling equipment: up to five more years; offering minors access: two to four years), 477 quater (premises simulating lotteries while running virtual slot machines or similar: five to ten years, closure, equipment destroyed) and 478 bis (public officials facilitating slot machines: three to five years and a five-year bar from office). It tightens the ban and creates no licence.
Iniciativa 4294, Ley de Regulación de Apuestas, Casinos, Videoloterías, Bingos y Juegos de Azar
- Stage
- Presented to the Pleno on 5 April 2011 and referred to the Economy and Foreign Trade and Interior committees for a joint opinion; not enacted
- What it changes
- Would create a Comisión Nacional and a Superintendencia de Juegos de Azar to license physical and virtual betting, casino, video lottery and bingo operators; fund them through a contribution capped at 0.7% of annual gross income; and levy a monthly 3% tax on gross gaming income, which the exposition defines as all stakes less all payouts, on top of income tax, with penal sanctions for unlicensed operation. It defines an internet casino as a virtual venue where games of chance are played.
Iniciativa 4685, Ley Reguladora de Juegos de Azar y Espectáculos Públicos
- Stage
- Presented to the Pleno on 7 November 2013 and referred to the Interior and Economy committees; not enacted
- What it changes
- Would place an Intendencia de Juegos de Azar y Espectáculos Públicos inside the tax authority SAT under a Comisión Nacional Reguladora, license casinos, bingos, video lotteries and betting centres, physical and virtual, charge a regulatory contribution of up to 1% of annual gross income and a monthly tax of 5% on gross income (article 54), and exempt the Lotería Santa Lucía and other lotteries authorised by the Interior Ministry.
Licensing
- Licence required
- Yes
- Application window
- Closed
- Local establishment required
- Not yet verified
- Local server required
- Not yet verified
- Typical time to licence
- Decreto 1610 article 1 requires the governor to decide within eight days of a complete application; the San Marcos governorship lists a 30-day response time.
- Bank guarantee or bond
- Decreto 1610 article 11: organisers of prize promotions deposit a bond covering the prizes and any damages; the departmental raffle procedure requires a bond for the value of the prizes from a national bank.
- Notable licensees
- Lotería Santa Lucía (Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala)
- Barriers to entry
- There is no gaming licence to apply for. Running a gaming house is a Penal Code offence, and the only authorised forms of play are the charity lottery created by decree in 1956 and departmentally licensed ticket raffles, bingos and prize promotions with a public draw. Two bills to create a licensing regime (2011 and 2013) have not passed, and the 2025 bill would harden the penalties instead.
Licence types
Departmental licence for bingos, rifas, sorteos and prize promotions
- Scope
- Issued by the Gobernación Departamental to institutions, associations, foundations, NGOs, committees, churches, schools and shopping centres for a specific raffle, draw or promotion with stamped tickets and a notarised public draw; not available for casino games, video lotteries or betting.
- Term
- Per event
- Application fee
- GTQ 0 ($0) as of 23 Sept 2026
- Fee basis
- No fee in San Marcos, the department whose procedure was read; a bond for the value of the prizes is required and the notary's fee is paid by the organiser
- Renewal terms
- New application per draw; one extension of the draw date may be requested at least 15 days in advance
Taxation
- Headline GGR tax
- Not yet verified
- Effective date
- 1 Jan 2013
- Corporate tax
- 25%
- Player winnings tax
- 10% on prizes from lotteries, raffles, draws, bingos and similar events, withheld by the payer
- Withholding mechanism
- The payer withholds and remits within the first ten days of the month after payment (Decreto 10-2012 article 94); the departmental raffle procedure requires proof of the tax payment after the draw, and Lotería Santa Lucía asks winners for a tax number to issue the withholding certificate.
- Tax base
- No gaming tax exists because no gaming is licensed. Lottery, raffle, draw and bingo prizes are rentas de capital taxed at 10% by withholding (Decreto 10-2012 articles 84, 92 and 94); free promotional draws are exempt from tax under Decreto 1610 article 8. The unenacted 2011 bill proposed a monthly 3% tax on gross gaming income and the 2013 bill a monthly 5%.
Compliance
- Minimum age
- Not yet verified
- National self-exclusion
- Not yet verified
- AML regime
- No gambling-specific AML regime was identified; the 2011 and 2013 bills cite the FATF recommendations on casinos and money laundering through unregulated gaming halls as reasons to legislate.
- KYC requirements
- Lotería Santa Lucía pays prizes only at its head office against a DPI identity document and a tax number, and pays minors only when accompanied by an adult. Departmental raffle organisers must file a notarial record naming each winner with the winner's DPI number.
- Stake limits
- Not yet verified
- Reporting obligations
- Prize-promotion organisers must prove delivery of prizes to the departmental governor (Decreto 1610 articles 6 and 7); raffle organisers file the notarial record of the draw, the winning ticket, the winner's DPI and proof of tax paid.
- Game content restrictions
- Only ticket lotteries and raffles with a public draw may be authorised (Interior Ministry opinion 0087-2006 as quoted in Iniciativa 4685).
Advertising
- Advertising permitted
- Not yet verified
- Penalties for breach
- Q100 to Q1,000, or double an undelivered prize, and suspension of the promotion or a bar on further draws (Decreto 1610 articles 10 and 12).
Restrictions
- Prize promotions must be licensed by the departmental governor before they run, and the approved plan cannot be altered without approval (Decreto 1610 articles 1 to 3 and 12).
- Organisers may not raise the price of the promoted product during a prize promotion (Decreto 1610 article 11).
Payments
- Credit card ban
- Not yet verified
- Crypto stance
- Not yet verified
- Permitted methods
- Visa or Mastercard credit and debit cards (Lotería Santa Lucía online ticket sales)
- Withdrawal timeframe rules
- Lotería Santa Lucía prizes must be claimed within six months of the draw.
- Currency restrictions
- Lotería Santa Lucía online tickets are paid in quetzales only.
Enforcement
- ISP blocking
- Not yet verified
- DNS blocking
- Not yet verified
- Payment blocking
- Not yet verified
- App store takedowns
- Not yet verified
- Administrative penalties
- Q100 to Q1,000, or double an undelivered prize, for prize-promotion breaches (Decreto 1610 article 10); Q50 to Q1,000 for selling unauthorised lottery or raffle tickets (Penal Code article 479)
- Criminal penalties
- One to five years' imprisonment and Q1,000 to Q10,000 for running a gaming house (article 477); Q200 to Q2,000 for attending one (article 478)
- Operator liability
- Criminal: one to five years' imprisonment and Q1,000 to Q10,000 for owners and managers of gaming houses (Penal Code article 477)
- Player liability
- Criminal: Q200 to Q2,000 fine for attending a gaming house (Penal Code article 478)
Notable actions
- Slot-machine premises in Ayutla, Malacatán, El Tumbador, El Rodeo, La Blanca, Ocós and San Marcos (San Marcos department)3 Jun 2025
161 raids by the Police with the Fiscalía Regional VIII (Occidente) in an investigation for juegos ilícitos: seven people detained, 230 slot machines and Q64,147 in cash seized
- Ten slot machines declared as textile-sector goods, Río Dulce interinstitutional checkpoint, Livingston, Izabal19 Feb 2025
Machines seized (customs value Q412,208.14) and one arrest by Police, Army and SAT
- Liquor outlets in La Florida, zona 19, Guatemala City23 Aug 2025
Slot machines seized and ten businesses without a commercial licence closed during multisector police operations
Market data
- Online GGR
- Not yet verified
Timeline
18 May 1956
Acuerdo Presidencial issues the Reglamento para Loterías, Rifas y Juegos, still the basis of departmental raffle licences; the Lotería Santa Lucía is authorised by Decreto 577 the same year.
10 Sept 1966
Decreto 1610 on prize promotions published in the Diario Oficial.
15 Sept 1973
Código Penal, Decreto 17-73, enters into force; Title XV makes gaming houses and unauthorised lotteries offences.
2 Feb 2006
Interior Ministry legal opinion 0087-2006 finds video lotteries and similar games contrary to the Penal Code and calls for foundation authorisations to be revoked.
5 Apr 2011
Iniciativa 4294, a casino, betting and video-lottery licensing bill, presented to the Pleno.
1 Jan 2013
Income tax book of Decreto 10-2012 takes effect, taxing lottery, raffle and bingo prizes at 10%.
7 Nov 2013
Iniciativa 4685, Ley Reguladora de Juegos de Azar y Espectáculos Públicos, presented to the Pleno.
19 Feb 2025
Ten slot machines seized at the Río Dulce interinstitutional checkpoint, Izabal.
3 Jun 2025
Police report 161 raids in San Marcos with the regional prosecutor: 230 slot machines and Q64,147 seized, seven detained.
7 Oct 2025
Iniciativa 6645, Penal Code reforms on slot machines and games of chance, presented to the Pleno and referred to the Comisión de Gobernación.
Outlook
The live question is whether Iniciativa 6645 clears the Comisión de Gobernación and reaches the floor, which would lengthen sentences and mandate closure of slot-machine premises without creating a regulated market. The 2011 and 2013 licensing bills remain the only drafted route to a Guatemalan gaming licence; the Congreso status pages could not be reached to confirm whether either has a committee opinion. Police and Ministerio Público raids on slot-machine premises, such as the June 2025 San Marcos operation, are the enforcement pattern to watch.
Frequently asked questions
- Is online gambling legal in Guatemala?
- No licence exists for it. Guatemala has no gambling statute; the Penal Code punishes running a house of games of luck, stake or chance with one to five years' imprisonment, and the Interior Ministry's 2006 legal opinion holds that only ticket lotteries and raffles with a public draw may be authorised. No provision deals with online play as such, and bills to license online and land-based gaming were filed in 2011 and 2013 and have not been enacted.
- Who regulates gambling in Guatemala?
- Nobody in the licensing sense. The Ministerio de Gobernación and the departmental governors authorise raffles, bingos, draws and prize promotions under Decreto 1610 of 1966 and a 1956 regulation, and a ministry representative sits on the Lotería Santa Lucía draw table. The Police, the Ministerio Público and the tax authority SAT seize unlicensed slot machines.
- Are casinos legal in Guatemala?
- No. Penal Code article 477 punishes the owners and managers of gaming houses with one to five years' imprisonment and fines of Q1,000 to Q10,000, and article 478 fines attendees Q200 to Q2,000. Video-lottery halls that operated as casinos under foundation authorisations were the target of the Interior Ministry's 2006 opinion, and Iniciativa 6645 of October 2025 would add five to ten years for premises that pose as lotteries while running virtual slots.
- How are gambling winnings taxed in Guatemala?
- Prizes from lotteries, raffles, draws, bingos and similar events are capital income taxed at 10%, withheld by the payer and remitted within the first ten days of the following month under Decreto 10-2012. There is no gaming tax on operators because no gaming is licensed.
- Is there a bill to legalise and license gambling?
- Two, neither enacted. Iniciativa 4294 of 2011 would create a Superintendencia de Juegos de Azar and a 3% monthly tax on gross gaming income, and Iniciativa 4685 of 2013 would put a gaming unit inside SAT and charge 5%. Both cover virtual as well as physical venues. The newest bill, Iniciativa 6645 of 2025, only increases penalties.
- What is Lotería Santa Lucía?
- The charity lottery of the Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala, authorised by Decreto 577 of 1956. In 2022 it issued 80,000 tickets per ordinary draw through about 435 wholesalers, sold whole tickets online by card in quetzales, paid 65% of income in prizes and refunds, and funded the Comité's hospitals, schools and rehabilitation centres; its draws are overseen by Interior Ministry and Contraloría representatives.
Sources
- Código Penal, Decreto 17-73 del Congreso de la República (in force 15 September 1973), Título XV De los juegos ilícitos, articles 477 to 479 (Organismo Judicial CENADOJ compilation)
Organismo Judicial de Guatemala, Centro Nacional de Análisis y Documentación Judicial
The compilation prints article 479 as "multa de cincuenta un mil quetzales", an evident omission of "a"; it is read as a fine of Q50 to Q1,000.
Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026 - Decreto 1610 del Congreso de la República, 7 September 1966, on commercial and industrial promotions with prizes by lot (Diario Oficial El Guatemalteco, 10 September 1966)
Congreso de la República de Guatemala
The Congreso site sits behind an Incapsula block from outside Guatemala; the document was read on 2026-09-23 from the Wayback Machine capture of the official URL given as archiveUrl. The file is a scan of the Diario Oficial page and was read from the image.
Archived copyTier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 10 Sept 1966 - Decreto 10-2012, Ley de Actualización Tributaria (Diario de Centro América, 5 March 2012), Libro I Impuesto Sobre la Renta, articles 36, 84, 92, 94 and 181
Congreso de la República de Guatemala
The Congreso site sits behind an Incapsula block from outside Guatemala; the document was read on 2026-09-23 from the Wayback Machine capture of the official URL given as archiveUrl.
Archived copyTier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 5 Mar 2012 - Iniciativa 4294, Ley de Regulación de Apuestas, Casinos, Videoloterías, Bingos y Juegos de Azar (presented to the Pleno 5 April 2011)
Congreso de la República de Guatemala
The Congreso site sits behind an Incapsula block from outside Guatemala; the document was read on 2026-09-23 from the Wayback Machine capture of the official URL given as archiveUrl. The exposition of motives says the regulatory canon could reach 3% of gross income, but articles 16 and 52 of the draft cap the contribution at 0.7% of annual gross income; the articles are followed.
Archived copyTier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 5 Apr 2011 - Iniciativa 4685, Ley Reguladora de Juegos de Azar y Espectáculos Públicos (presented to the Pleno 7 November 2013), including the exposition of motives quoting Interior Ministry legal opinion 0087-2006
Congreso de la República de Guatemala
The Congreso site sits behind an Incapsula block from outside Guatemala; the document was read on 2026-09-23 from the Wayback Machine capture of the official URL given as archiveUrl.
Archived copyTier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 7 Nov 2013 - Iniciativa 6645, Reformas al Decreto 17-73, Código Penal, para regular los Juegos de Azar y Máquinas Tragamonedas (presented to the Pleno 7 October 2025)
Congreso de la República de Guatemala
The Congreso site sits behind an Incapsula block from outside Guatemala; the document was read on 2026-09-23 from the Wayback Machine capture of the official URL given as archiveUrl.
Archived copyTier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 7 Oct 2025 - Catálogo de Trámites: Solicitud de autorización de licencia de bingos, rifas y sorteos (Gobernación Departamental de San Marcos)
Comisión Presidencial de Gobierno Abierto y Electrónico, Catálogo de Trámites (information supplied by the Gobernación Departamental de San Marcos)
Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026 - Operativo interinstitucional permite captura de un hombre y decomiso de máquinas tragamonedas
Ministerio de Gobernación
Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 19 Feb 2025 - Continúan operativos en la ciudad para prevenir acciones ilícitas y mantener el orden público (slot machines seized in La Florida, zona 19)
Ministerio de Gobernación
Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 23 Aug 2025 - Localizan Q.64 mil 147 en 230 máquinas tragamonedas
Policía Nacional Civil de Guatemala
Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 3 Jun 2025 - Lotería Santa Lucía, Acerca de Nosotros (Decreto 577 of 1956, tickets per draw, distribution of income, draw procedure)
Lotería Santa Lucía (Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala)
The live site returns a Cloudflare challenge; the page was read from the 15 August 2022 capture, the latest archived copy, so the ticket and income figures are as the lottery stated them in 2022.
Archived copyTier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026 - Lotería Santa Lucía, Preguntas Frecuentes (online sales of whole tickets, card payment in quetzales, prize collection with DPI and NIT)
Lotería Santa Lucía (Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala)
The live site returns a Cloudflare challenge; the page was read from the 26 September 2022 capture.
Archived copyTier 3Accessed 23 Sept 2026