The new position was adopted at the end of January and classifies bonuses as part of net gaming revenue, the basis for calculating betting tax.

It is part of the commercial strategy of bookmakers to grant promotional credits that serve as a ‘trial run’ for a beginner.

Some platforms, for example, also offer this bonus on their customers' birthdays as a gift.

If bettors use the credit and lose, the platform gets nothing and gets back the money deposited. If they win, however, the bonus becomes a cost, not revenue, as it has come out of the company's cash box, the companies say.

On condition of anonymity, industry executives see the move as a desperate attempt by the government to raise revenue to meet the fiscal tightening demanded by the market. They say there is no legal basis for this levy, which is not foreseen in the gambling regulation.

When contacted, the Betting and Premiums Secretariat said it had published the technical note with the aim of increasing legal certainty, predictability, protection of gamblers and the public interest. It said that the ‘sector's issues will be evaluated, always with attention to the provisions of the legislation and regulations’.

In the note, the secretariat justifies the tax by saying that these promotional credits are a form of direct financial incentive for gambling, as their sole purpose is this type of operation.

Without the tax, the secretariat argues, there could be an incentive [to gamble] over and above what the regulation intends, ‘especially if we take into account the importance of actions to promote responsible gambling,’ the technical note says.
 

By Stéfanie Rigamonti