Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 12. Sectors › Lotteries, sports betting and online gaming

Lotteries, sports betting and online gaming

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Changing

Ley 86-26 licenses lottery shops for 5 years and sports betting shops, online gaming and electronic lotteries for 10 years. Online operators must be companies and pay 10% monthly on operations, or RD$5 million a month per company until the collection system is ready. New shop licences freeze for 10 years once the licensee register is published.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar, as shown on its home page on 30 October 2026, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Internet gaming tax	10 % monthly on operationsLey 86-26 art. 78, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Provisional monthly payment per company	5000000 DOPLey 86-26 art. 186, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Internet gaming licence term	10 yearsLey 86-26 art. 77, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Lottery shop annual tax	85000 DOPLey 30-26 art. 28, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Sports betting shop annual tax, main cities	500000 DOPLey 30-26 art. 29, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Freeze on new licences after register	10 yearsLey 86-26 art. 191, as of 2026-10-30 · in force

The rule

1. Authorized activities are casinos, slot rooms, sports betting shops, lottery shops, racing agencies, National Lottery draws, electronic lotteries, sale points, slot machines, internet gaming, virtual games, bingos and raffles.Ley 86-26, art. 21, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. The law applies to anyone operating or selling gaming, through premises or by electronic means, and to technology and logistics support.Ley 86-26, art. 3, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Gaming without a valid licence is irregular and leads to immediate closure or platform blocking, plus penalties.Ley 86-26, art. 24, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Internet gaming may be run only by legal entities with a licence from the Consejo, for 10 years from issue. The DGJA sets fees and conditions by resolution.
Cost to do it: Licence fees were not yet published when checked.Ley 86-26, art. 75 to 77, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. A tax of 10% a month applies on the base of operations of all internet games. The licence holder pays the DGII in the first 10 working days of each month, by authorized web address, wherever the activity takes place.Ley 86-26, art. 78, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30 · changed: New tax from Ley 86-26.

6. Until the technology for that tax is installed, each corporate entity pays RD$5,000,000 a month at the DGII.
Cost to do it: RD$5,000,000 (about US$82,100.86) a month per company, or RD$60,000,000 (about US$985,210.35) a year.
Example: RD$5,000,000 a month / US$82,100.86 a monthLey 86-26, art. 186, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. The DGJA may suspend a site for unpaid taxes, fraud or laundering. For unlicensed offers it orders domain and app blocking with INDOTEL, asks payment entities to stop transactions, and publishes lists of authorized operators and blocked sites.Ley 86-26, art. 79, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. Operators must allow remote inspection and, under art. 82, verify users. Internet games that lack required elements or are not under the .do domain are a serious infraction.Ley 86-26, art. 80 to 82 and 147, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. A national self exclusion register is created, and advertising is ruled by art. 37.Ley 86-26, art. 37 and 38, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Lottery shops may be run by persons or companies, under a licence of 5 years.Ley 86-26, art. 83 and 84, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. Lottery shops pay a single tax of RD$85,000 a year and RD$200,000 as registration or initial operating payment.
Cost to do it: RD$85,000 (about US$1,395.71) a year plus RD$200,000 (about US$3,284.03) at the start.Ley 495-06 art. 36 as replaced by Ley 30-26, Ley 30-26 art. 28, 2026-06-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30 · changed: June 2026: amounts rewritten by Ley 30-26.

12. Sports betting shops hold a 10 year licence and pay RD$500,000 a year in the metropolitan areas of the National District, Santo Domingo, San Cristóbal, Santiago, San Francisco de Macorís, Puerto Plata and La Vega, and RD$300,000 elsewhere, plus RD$500,000 to register.
Cost to do it: RD$500,000 (about US$8,210.09) a year and RD$500,000 (about US$8,210.09) to start in the main cities.Ley 86-26; Ley 80-99 art. 4 as replaced by Ley 30-26, art. 86 and 87; Ley 30-26 art. 29, 2026-06-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. Electronic lotteries are run by companies under a 10 year licence and pay monthly 24% of gross sales of accumulative draws, 2.5% of gross sales of non accumulative draws, and RD$54,000 a year per sale point, indexed yearly.Ley 86-26, art. 127 to 129, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

14. Prize withholding is 25% on lottery and similar prizes. For betting and lottery shop prizes there is a scale of 15% from RD$200,001 to RD$600,000 and 25% above that.Tax Code art. 309 paragraph as replaced by Ley 30-26, Ley 30-26 art. 17, 2026-06-18 official text · verified 2026-10-30

15. Distance limits are 500 meters from protected sites and between sports betting shops and racing agencies, and 200 meters between lottery shops. Establishments already authorized when the law took effect are excluded.Ley 86-26, art. 26 and 178, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

16. Establishments operating legally have 12 months to enter the single register, and the Consejo then has 90 days to publish the list of licensees.Ley 86-26, art. 190, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

17. After that publication, no new licences for the art. 21 activities will be issued for 10 years, with casinos in hotels and tourist areas excepted.Ley 86-26, art. 191, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

18. Reduced debt payoffs apply to operators that regularize, for arrears up to December 2025.Ley 86-26, art. 192, 2026-09-22 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Activity	Term	Tax
Lottery shop	5 years	RD$85,000 a year
Sports betting shop	10 years	RD$500,000 or RD$300,000 a year
Internet gaming	10 years	10% monthly; provisional RD$5,000,000 a month
Electronic lottery	10 years	24% or 2.5% of gross sales, plus RD$54,000 per sale point a year

Licence term and tax by activity

Worked example

An online sportsbook with monthly operations of RD$30,000,000 (about US$492,605.18) would owe 10%, or RD$3,000,000 (about US$49,260.52), under art. 78, but until the system is live it pays the flat RD$5,000,000 (about US$82,100.86) under art. 186, so the flat sum is above the rate at that size. Art. 186 sets no refund.
A new sports betting shop in Santiago costs RD$500,000 (about US$8,210.09) to register and RD$500,000 (about US$8,210.09) a year in tax, plus fees set by the DGJA.

Step by step

Check if the activity is licensable and if the freeze has started.
Existing shops: register within 12 months of entry into force.
Set up a company for online operation.
Use an authorized web address and a .do domain.
Build identity checks, self exclusion and remote inspection links.
Pay the DGII in the first 10 working days of the month.
Keep the provisional payment until the DGJA confirms the system is live.

Common traps

Art. 78 speaks of the base of operations, and art. 186 of gross sales or operations. The exact base awaits the regulation.
Offshore sites that accept Dominican players without a licence face blocking and a payments cut off under art. 79, even with no local presence.
The law text read is a gazette copy on a private site, and official PDFs of the law were not reachable.
Press reports say the DGJA barred new shops from mid October 2026. The law's freeze runs from publication of the register, so ask the DGJA for any current ban in writing.
Fee resolutions are due within six months of entry into force and were not found.

Sources

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