Congressman and former Speaker of the House Arthur Lira (Progressistas — PP, Alagoas — AL) argued, in an interview this Tuesday (11), that the federal government should intensify the fight against illegal betting before raising the tax burden on platforms in accordance with the regulation.
He placed the topic within the context of market growth and enforcement challenges, while maintaining a focus on the unfair competition from clandestine operations.
Arthur Lira stated: “Gambling is inevitable. It’s no use for the government to say, ‘I’m going to end gambling.’ Citizens will gamble on irregular, illegal, and foreign platforms. So I think the first step is for the government to go after illegal betting sites that don’t pay taxes and launder money through fintech companies.”
Thus, he linked any adjustment of tax rates to a prior stage of repression and cleanup of the regulatory environment.
What is the priority before increasing the taxation of bets?
According to Lira, the path begins with neutralizing the competitive advantages of operations that do not collect taxes or comply with control requirements. In this way, the administration would reduce distortions and avoid burdening those who already comply with the law.
However, he stressed that the tax discussion remains necessary even after addressing the illegalities, when the basis for comparison becomes more balanced.
The former Speaker of the House added: “From this, we do need to see who pays less or more. Now, if half the sector pays and half is illegal, it’s fair that you increase the tax on the half that works correctly, right? It’s very easy in the pre-election period to say what everyone wants to hear.”
However, the lawmaker conditioned revisions of tax rates on a realistic diagnosis of the market composition and regulatory compliance.
The federal government attempted to increase taxation on platforms through Provisional Measure (MP) 1,303, which was rejected by the National Congress. Therefore, the proposed change did not advance as intended.
The text proposed increasing the tax on the profits of sportsbooks from 12% to 18%; in addition, other initiatives under consideration suggest raising the rate to 24%.
However, the rejection of the provisional measure postponed the reconfiguration of the sectoral tax framework and kept open the debate about the timing and intensity of a new adjustment.
Political context and parliamentary activity
Arthur Lira participated in a meeting promoted by the events sector in São Paulo, where he received an award for his advocacy for the Emergency Program for the Recovery of the Events Sector (Perse).
The tax benefit helped the sector weather the pandemic and came to an end this year. Consequently, the termination of Perse has brought back to the forefront the issues of competitiveness and the regulatory cost of activities related to entertainment and tourism.
