The Federal Government recorded around 3 billion reais in the first five months of this year with the taxation of the online betting sector. The information was announced by the Federal Revenue Service last Thursday (26).
Between January and May 2025, this amount represents an increase of more than 40,000% compared to the same period last year. At that time, only 7 million reais were collected. In May alone, the amounts collected exceeded 810 million reais, an increase of 23,096.8%.
The justification for this amount is the entry into force of the regulation of sports betting and online gaming. This legislation came into effect on January 1, 2025.
The new rules require betting companies to apply for a license with the Ministry of Treasury, paying around R$30 million for a five-year license. Therefore, only duly authorized betting companies can continue operating, advertising their services and sponsoring sports teams.
“As of February, we have already had the collection of the new taxation system for companies that combine fixed-odds bets,” declared the head of the Federal Revenue’s Tax and Customs Studies Center, tax auditor Claudemir Malaquias.
The amount obtained from the betting sector is equivalent to the 12% rate on gross gaming revenue, the so-called Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), used to project the taxes owed by sportsbooks.
Increased taxation for the betting sector
However, the Ministry of Treasury intends to increase revenue from companies in the online betting sector. Through an alternative Provisional Measure to the Tax on Financial Transactions (IOF), this rate will increase from 12% to 18% as of October 1st of this year.
However, the government has already been informed by leaders in the Chamber of Deputies that the provisional measure has little chance of moving forward and would need to be reviewed. The message, according to Valor, was passed directly to the executive secretary of the Ministry of Treasury, Dario Durigan.
On Wednesday (25), the Federal Government was defeated due to the overturn of the decree that increased the IOF, the Tax on Financial Operations, in Congress.
Therefore, the government will need to define other ways to raise or save R$20.5 billion to meet the fiscal target of the 2025 budget. This is because it has already blocked or contingent another R$31.3 billion in expenses this year.
