This Tuesday, the 18th, the Federal Government’s economic team resolved the last pending matter that was blocking the forwarding of one of the main collection proposals to the Federal Congress: the taxation of sports betting.
This happens through the publication of a provisional measure (PM), in an extra edition of the Official Gazette, creating positions for the new Secretariat for Betting and Lotteries, linked to the Ministry of Finance.
According to Estadão, 217 vacancies were created in the folders, of which 65 should be aimed at the sports betting segment. The new secretariat will be responsible for evaluating the documentation with a view to approving the accreditation of operators in Brazil, in addition to monitoring the flow of transactions and collection.
The federal government’s projection is to obtain up to R$ 12 million per year with the taxation of sports betting, which is not yet regulated, and with the relaunch of Lotex, instant known as “scratch card“.
Regulation will include provisional measure and bill
A provisional measure text to regulate sports betting was presented by the Ministry of Finance in May. The text, however, spent two months stagnant due to issues between the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and of the Federal Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG).
The alternative was to edit a provisional measure with the priority points for the regulation and taxation of sports betting and a bill (PL) with the organizational items. The texts tend to be published in the Official Gazette or forwarded to Congress soon.
The government’s assessment is that the issue will be unlocked. The expectation is that only the return of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to the country is expected, scheduled for this Wednesday, 19.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the proposal for a provisional measure will include what will be legal and illegal in sports betting and the punishments in case of disrespect, in addition to taxation rules. The bill includes the general concepts and functions of ministries.
The expectation is that the texts advance in parallel in the National Congress and that the project gains urgency, which would speed up the debate. According to an article in the Estadão, the Treasury estimates that the regulation may be approved by mid-September, which would allow the start of taxation of sports betting.
How will sports betting be taxed?
Following the new rules for taxation of sports betting, a bookmaker can only operate in the country if authorized by the Federal Government.
Therefore, it will have to pay for a grant in the amount of R$ 30 million, have its headquarters in the national territory and minimum capital of R$ 100 thousand.
The taxation of companies will happen as follows: 16% on the so-called GGR (gross gaming revenue). That is: on the income obtained from the games, minus the prizes paid to players.
In addition, bettors will pay a 30% Income Tax rate on the prize, but with exemption for amounts up to R$ 2,112.
The collection generated by the required 16% of operators will be divided as follows:
- 2.55% will be allocated to the National Public Security Fund
- 0.82% to elementary school
- 1.63% to the clubs, in return for the transfer of the name
- 10% to social security
- 1% to the Ministry of Sports
Finally, the measure also has numerous mechanisms to avoid irregularities in the sector, such as a ban on athletes, referees, sports officials and those under 18 years of age placing bets.
