Last week, representatives of online sports betting sites began conversations with parliamentarians in the National Congress to discuss the taxation of online gambling. According to information released by CNN, this taxation could generate annual revenue of R$ 10 billion for the public coffers, although these numbers are only preliminary estimates.
Talks were conducted with members of the Lula government’s allied base in both the Chamber and the Senate. During the discussions, the possibility was raised that these sites would pay a license fee to operate in Brazil for a period of five years, with a value of around R$ 30 million, in addition to taxes that would affect the profits of the players.
Last week, the Brazilian Association of Sports Betting shared suggestions and analyzes with technicians from the Ministry of Finance, which is preparing a measure on the taxation of the sector. The group expressed criticism, for example, of the possibility that players who make profits pay taxes on them.
Haddad expresses intention to tax online sports betting
The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, expressed his intention to tax the sector during the presentation of the fiscal rule, where he mentioned: “new sectors that are not even regulated, there was a lot of talk in the Chamber and in the Senate about electronic betting that will be regulated, but this is one item on a long list of benefits”.
A 2018 law allowed the operation of sports betting in Brazil. However, as the market is not yet regulated, companies operate their websites outside the country and do not pay taxes in Brazil.
Senator Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA), who defends the legalization of games in general in Brazil, including casinos and other electronic betting platforms, was contacted by the sector last week. He claims that sports betting sites are seeing taxation as something positive, as it is a way to legalize the activity, regulate it, curb platforms that operate clandestinely in the country and even fight match fixing.
“The fiscal framework presented by Minister Haddad needs resources. This sector wants to be taxed. There are advanced bills in the Senate about other games. It is a recipe that is on the face of the goal”, said Angelo.
Despite this, there is still resistance regarding the regulation of online sports betting and the sector in general in Brazil. In the Senate itself, there is a Parliamentary Front against gambling, created in 2022. Conservative members of the group have already expressed their opposition to any type of regulation in this area.
