Rush Street Interactive Gets Some Good Tax News in Colombia
Posted on: January 30, 2026, 12:49h.
Last updated on: January 30, 2026, 01:00h.
- Colombia’s high court removes incremental gaming tax
- The levy affected Rush Street Interactive’s 2025 revenue in the country
- Analyst says stock is fairly valued
Rush Street Interactive (NYSE: RSI) posted impressive returns this week with the stock rallying nearly 5% (as of midday Friday) on news that Colombia’s equivalent of the Supreme Court struck down a gaming tax that had been a drag on the company’s operations there.
Colombia’s value added tax (VAT) scheme pertaining to online wagering was implemented at the start of last year by decree of President Gustavo Petro. It was part of a broader series of emergency tax measures aimed at boosting revenue — many of which bypassed the country’s legislative houses. The gaming tax, which equaled 19% of net gaming revenue, expired on December 31, but earlier this month, Petro used another emergency decree to extend the levy through the end of 2026. Colombia’s high court scrapped that plan.
The end result of the back and forth is a positive for Rush Street in one of the highest growth markets for the company,” said Citizens Equity Research analyst Jordan Bender in a note to clients. “Net gaming revenue was materially impacted during 2025 as the company, along with the majority of the industry, gave compensation back to players for the VAT tax applied to deposits, suppressing net gaming revenue despite the company growing gross gaming revenue >50% during the year.”
Bender rates shares of Rush Street Interactive “market perform.”
Why Colombia’s Tax Situation Matters to Rush Street Interactive
In simple terms, Colombia’s tax scheme resulted in a headwind to Rush Street’s profits. In any jurisdiction that’s meaningful, but it’s particularly important to the operator because Colombia is one of the fastest-growing markets in a region that’s key to Rush Street’s long-term growth story.
Bender notes that had the tax remained in place, it would have “normalized” gaming revenue at a rate that may have been unsatisfactory to investors. He adds that with the tax out of the way and using 2024 — the last year before the levy was implemented — as the template, there’s “material upside” to Rush Street’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) estimates.
“We estimate EBITDA is now closer to $269 million for 2026E, compared to our $227 million estimate and consensus of $209 million,” says the analyst. “We are not adjusting for the tax change at this time given the uncertainty around the political and legislative back and forth.”
Illinois-based Rush Street Interactive delivers quarterly results on February 17, and it’s likely the Colombia tax issue will be discussed on the subsequent conference call.
Rush Street Shares Fairly Valued, Says Bender
Rush Street has been steadily profitable over the past several years, and in the US, it focuses more on iGaming than online sports betting, largely avoiding the intense and costly competitive element of the latter industry.
That’s also kept the stock, which is higher by 24.34% over the past year, out of the prediction markets’ punishment fray. Still, Bender says the name is fairly valued at current levels.
“Shares are trading at 15.5x consensus 2027E EBITDA, representing one of the most expensive names across the gaming, lodging, and leisure space, and above historical premium multiples across international gaming markets,” concludes the analyst. “Our 18x multiple on 2027E now exceeds well-capitalized operators, and we see more value (at these valuation levels) from well-established peers.”
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