The repport of Senator Irajá (PSD-TO), rapporteur of Bill No. 2234/22 (Bill of casinos), estimates that the revenue from gambling could reach R$20 billion. This amount is equivalent to the contingency announced by the federal government at the end of March.
The projection considers taxes on transactions in casinos, bingo, Jogo do Bicho and horse racing, as provided for in the Casinos Bill.
Irajá stated: “It is a resource that Brazil cannot give up, the Brazilian people cannot afford to watch this activity operate illegally and clandestinely, and the Brazilian people cannot take any kind of advantage of it”, in an interview with the ND Mais portal.
Fiscal projections and government reaction
At the end of May, ministers Fernando Haddad (Treasury) and Simone Tebet (Planning and Budget) announced the blocking of R$10 billion and an additional contingency of R$20 billion.
This measure was motivated by low revenue in the first months of the year. The increase in the IOF (Tax on Financial Transactions) as an alternative generated criticism in Congress. After pressure from the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicans-PB), the Treasury Department promised to review the decree, creating a political impasse during the month of June.
Despite the division of revenue from gambling between the Union, states and municipalities, the rapporteur highlighted that the amounts can alleviate the fiscal scenario.
Irajá gave an example of the social impacts of the project: “If we convert this into health centers, more than 10,000 health centers would be built every year, almost two health centers per city in the country. Social housing, then, goes without saying, more than 200,000 social housing units.”
In addition to revenue, the Casinos Bill foresees that market regulation will generate R$100 billion in investments and more than 1.5 million direct and indirect jobs.
The granting of licenses will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance, which must also establish a regulatory agency.
The criteria for issuing licenses will follow population parameters and will require proof of the viability of the project.
Irajá explained: “With these previously defined criteria, we are not admitting the possibility of opening bingo halls, Jogo do Bicho and casinos throughout Brazil.
These are federal licenses, federal authorizations, including onerous grants, which will cost these companies money to be able to explore these activities.”
The senator believes that the economic argument can convince the still undecided members of parliament. According to him, there is an expectation that the bill will be voted on before the July recess.
Estimates and social impacts
Estimates of revenue from gambling are based on studies by jurist Felipe Santa Cruz and professor Pedro Trengrouse, with data from IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) and the Instituto Jogo Legal.
In 2014, the market moved between R$8.6 million and R$18.9 million, considering legal and illegal bets. Corrected by the IPCA (Broad Consumer Price Index), this volume would vary between R$14.34 billion and R$31.5 billion in 2023.
However, the project faces resistance in the Senate. The main points of opposition are the risks to the family budget and the increase in cases of gambling addiction.
Despite this, senators Izalci (PL-DF) and Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) declared their vote against the project after the Bets CPI. This occurred even though the revenue will be used to combat the negative social effects.
Casino Bill rapporteur talks about illegal gambling in Brazil
According to Irajá, it is necessary to recognize the existence of illegal betting in the country and confront it with regulation.
He stated: “We know that there is bingo operating throughout Brazil, there is animal gambling operating, there are clandestine casinos also operating and the government, the population does not benefit from this.
Taxes are not collected, and this is not used to benefit Brazilian society. Therefore, we would shed light on an activity that currently operates in the shadows.”
And he added: “Is it better to let this happen illegally or bring it under the control of the public authorities? That is our main point.”
The project also requires that bettors register with their CPF and record transactions for audit by the Federal Revenue Service. In addition, the project requires payments exclusively via debit or Pix, to avoid debt.
Irajá concluded: “In a series of measures that were adopted in the project so that it could take care of the bettor. Not the operator. So these are vaccines that are foreseen in the project and that evidently must be observed”.
