Brazil Government's delay in gambling regulation hampers tax revenue collection

"It's been slow. If the government wants money, we approve the bets in December. It's been four months and there's no position on how to collect it," criticised the Senator Angelo Coronel, who gave rise to the bill, in an interview with a local media.

In the congressman's view, this is a possible source of compensation to pay for the payroll tax exemption for 17 sectors of the economy and small municipalities, which has been judicialised.

The law regulating the betting market was passed at the end of 2023, but only last week was the head of the Secretariat for Prizes and Betting appointed, the Treasury body responsible for registering and supervising betting operators.

"It's a contradiction. They want money, they have the source and they don't operate the source," said Senator Angelo Coronel. "In the case of betting, it's not for lack of will on the part of Congress, which approved it as a matter of urgency and has had four months without the government putting it into operation." He hopes that the new Secretary for Prizes and Betting, Regis Dudena, will speed up regulation.

In addition to the grants, 12 per cent will be levied on bookmakers' revenue. The tax will be levied on the so-called GGR (gross gaming revenue), which is the revenue obtained from the games, minus the prizes paid to the bettors. Punters, on the other hand, will have to pay 15 per cent of the winnings from this type of bet.

This is another of the tax collection measures devised last year by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad to help the government meet its target of a zero fiscal deficit by 2024.

What the Treasury says

The Treasury is responsible for regulating various issues related to the fixed-odds lottery. At the moment, the Secretariat for Prizes and Betting is prioritising the regulation that will govern the rules and conditions for obtaining authorisation to operate the market in Brazil.

Once these regulations have been published, the process of evaluating interested legal entities will begin, which will also require policies on integrity and the prevention of manipulation of results and other frauds. In a previous expression of interest, more than 130 companies expressed their intention to operate in the Brazilian market.

The ministry emphasises that the law established a deadline of no less than six months for legal entities operating in Brazil to adapt to the legal and regulatory provisions.

"The details of the adaptation timetable for legal entities operating in Brazil will be included in the regulations governing the Bets authorisation process. The future regulations are currently under examination by the Attorney General's Office of the National Treasury and can therefore still be modified," said the Treasury, for a local media.

By Flávia Said