The Provisional Measure regulating sports betting was signed by President Lula in July 2023. In September, the material was included in a Bill, by rapporteur Adolfo Viana (PSDB-BA). The text of the Bill will be voted on by the Senate.

In November 2023, the report approved by the CAE (Economic Affairs Committee), written by Senator Ângelo Coronel, had highlights such as:

Update on December 22 : After approval with reservations by the Senate, the Bill is approved again by the Chamber of Deputies, lowering the taxation of gambling houses from 18% to 12%. Bettors must pay 15% tax on prizes greater than R$2,112. Check out the latest news on the subject .

Summary: main points of the MP and the PL

Taxation of sports betting

With the signing of the MP, an 18% tax on the Gross Gaming Revenue of these companies was made official. After changes in the Senate, the value became 12% .

In May, a proposal released by the Ministry of Finance called for taxing betting, along with measures to prevent gambling manipulation. At the time, the government had estimated a 16% tax rate.

Find out more: GGR is the revenue collected from all games, after paying prizes to bettors and deducting IR from the prize amount.

Prizes not claimed by the winners will be donated to the Student Financing Fund (Fies).

The text states that “Only legal entities established under Brazilian law, with headquarters and administration in the national territory, which meet the requirements set out in the regulations issued by the Ministry of Finance, will be eligible for authorization to operate fixed-odds betting.”

This includes not only operations commonly referred to as “betting”, but also online casinos.

Taxation for the bettor

The Ministry of Finance recently decided that bettors will have to pay a tax on the prizes they receive.

According to the initial determination, prizes that do not exceed R$2,112 will be exempt from tax, while amounts above this limit would be taxed at 30%.

It is important to highlight that this exemption corresponds to the income bracket that is not subject to Income Tax.

We will keep an eye out for new information to update the content regarding this taxation of bettors.

Betting ban

With the aim of acting against fraud and manipulation of sports betting, in addition to reinforcing security for vulnerable groups, the MP foresees that a portion of the population will not be able to participate in the activity.

The following are included:

The ban also covers spouses, partners and relatives up to the second degree of public inspection agents and people with access to betting systems.

This is because these are people who can also have access to data that would influence the outcome of the games.

In the provisional measure approved by Lula, people registered with credit protection agencies could not bet. In the new report, this group was removed from the list.

Other relevant details

Taxation and the list of restrictions on bettors are the points that attracted the most attention in the text, but we have listed other relevant details that appear in the Provisional Measure.

Public awareness

The Provisional Measure stipulates that betting companies (“bets”) are responsible for promoting awareness-raising actions among bettors about the risks of gambling addiction.

The regulation of marketing activities will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

Advertising

Communication, advertising and marketing activities related to the fixed-odds betting lottery will follow the rules established by the Ministry of Finance.

This includes the posting of risk warnings related to gambling and warnings about its harmful impacts, which must be displayed by authorized operators.

There will also be restrictions on the times, programs, channels and events in which advertising and promotion of bets can be broadcast, with the aim of preventing them from reaching underage audiences.

The special advisor to the Ministry of Finance, José Francisco Manssur, stated that an ordinance on Responsible Gaming is being discussed with CONAR.

“You turn on the TV today and you are bombarded with gambling advertisements. There is no time filter or message. We want to convey to Brazilian society that gambling is not a way to get rich, it is leisure. We can place advertisements within certain limits. We can place a warning: gamble responsibly, like we see in beer advertisements today,” he points out.

Unclaimed Prizes

Prizes that are not redeemed by the winners will be donated to the Student Financing Fund (Fies) and the National Public Calamity Fund (Funcap).

Participation of businessmen in sports

Partners and shareholders of betting companies are prohibited from acting as directors or having any participation in sports organizations.

Additionally, such companies will be required to report to the Ministry of Finance any suspected events of results manipulation.

Another point is that, now, companies responsible for betting are prohibited from acquiring, licensing or financing the acquisition of rights to sporting events held in Brazil, with the aim of broadcasting, distributing or any other form of displaying sounds and images, through any means of communication.