The Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) will be able to vote on Wednesday, 20th, in a meeting scheduled for 10am, on the Chamber of Deputies project that authorizes the operation of bingos and casinos in Brazil, legalizes the Jogo do Bicho and allows betting in horse racing.
PL 2,234/2022 has a favorable vote from Senator Irajá (PSD-TO) in his report.
The text authorizes the installation of casinos in tourist centers or integrated leisure complexes, under the limit of one casino in each state and the Federal District, with the exception of São Paulo, which may have up to three casinos, and Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Amazonas and Pará, in which the limit for each state is two casinos.
According to the proposal, gaming houses will also be able to operate on sea and river vessels, which will follow specific rules.
Details of the project that foresees the resumption of casinos in Brazil
However, the casino must demonstrate a minimum paid-up share capital of at least R$100 million and may be accredited for 30 years.
The proposal also establishes rules for the game of bingo in card and electronic formats. The proposal allows each state to accredit one legal entity for every 700,000 inhabitants to operate the Jogo do Bicho.
In this case, the authorizations will be valid for 25 years, renewable for the same period.
Horse racing may be operated by tourism entities accredited by the Ministry of Agriculture. These entities may also be accredited to operate bingo and video bingo games at the same time.
According to the project that foresees the resumption of casinos in Brazil, two new taxes will be created and must be paid by licensed gaming and betting operating entities, the Gaming and Betting Inspection Fee (Tafija) and the Intervention Contribution in the Economic Domain levied on the commercialization of games and betting (Cide-Jogos).
The forecast is that Cide-Jogos will have a tax rate of up to 17% on the gross revenue of betting companies
Rapporteur’s opinion
The project also determines the implementation of a registry of people who will be prevented from placing bets and entering bookmakers; creates the National Policy for the Protection of Players and Bettors; as well as provides guidelines for preventing and combating money laundering.
In his report, Irajá dismissed as an “indeterminate legal concept” the offense against morals and good customs, used as an argument against the games. And, he stressed that the project seeks to transfer to State control a practice that today constitutes a misdemeanor.
Citing statistics on the legal or illegal betting market, Irajá concludes that “gambling already constitutes a relevant economic activity”.
Furthermore, the rapporteur rejected the senators’ amendments and offered a wording amendment replacing the mentions of “Ministry of Economy” with “Ministry of Finance”.
After analysis by the CCJ, the project goes to the Plenary for voting.
