Argentina’s plans to carve itself a slice of online gambling revenue have so far earned the federal government a whopping total of zero pesos, as provinces and international operators thumb their nose at national regulations.

In December 2016, Argentine legislators voted to impose a new 2% federal tax on all online wagers placed by the nation’s bettors. The tax, which officially took effect on January 1, 2017, was supposed to be collected at source by credit- and debit-card issuers from deposits made with Argentina-facing online gambling operators, regardless of where that operator was based.

Optimistic federal bean-counters predicted annual returns of up to ARS1b (US$51m) from this heretofore untapped revenue source. However, thirteen months later, a report in La Nacion revealed that the government has yet to collect a single peso from this new tax.

Internationally licensed online operators have encouraged Argentine punters to fund their accounts via other online payment methods, while provincially-run online sites are proving equally reluctant to allow the federal government to wet its beak on the sweat of their local operations.