Online sports betting: CPI analyses breach of bank secrecy of licensed operators in Brazil

There are 97 requests from Senator Marcos Rogério (PL-RO) submitted in early December, which include 71 of the 78 companies currently authorised by the Ministry of Finance. The documents request, among other things, that the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) send the CPI financial intelligence reports (RIF in original Portuguese) with ‘consistent information’ on betting, from 1 January 2020 to 10 December 2024.

Another 11 requests subpoena as witnesses authorities from the Central Bank and the Federal Police, as well as representatives of betting companies and payment institutions. The subpoena makes attendance mandatory.
 

Testimony

Before the votes, the collegiate body will hear the Special Secretary of the Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB), Robinson Sakiyama Barreirinhas, head of the agency in charge of administering federal taxes. This is an invitation to collaborate as an expert.
According to the request of Senator Izalci Lucas (PL-DF), who authorised the invitation, the gambling sector is still waiting for a regulation that clarifies the taxation of profits and prevents tax evasion (REQ 74/2024).

‘The current legislation does not clearly specify how these winnings should be taxed, which creates a loophole so that taxes are not collected efficiently. The Treasury is concerned that the lack of regulatory clarity will encourage tax evasion and reduce the potential for tax collection,’ the document says.

Barreirinhas has already contributed on a similar topic to the IPC on the Manipulation of Gambling and Sports Betting in September 2024.

Gambling CPI

The commission aims to clarify the impact of digital gambling on the financial health of Brazilians and to investigate possible illicit activities. Created on 12 November, the CPI elected Senator Dr Hiran (PP-RR) as president and Senator Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS) as rapporteur. The collegiate body has a total of 130 days to complete its work, with a spending limit of usd 18.854,22.

The games created by the industry and pending regulation are the so-called ‘fixed odds bets’, which refer to online sports betting (so-called ‘bookies’) and online games that resemble casinos (such as Fortune Tiger, popularly known as Jogo do Tigrinho). Fixed odds’ are those that allow the bettor to know in advance how many times more they will receive on the amount wagered if they win.

The outcome of an ICC may include, among other things, proposals to amend legislation and the referral of investigations to the bodies responsible for holding the accused criminally accountable.

Agência Senado