The Chamber of Deputies approved on Wednesday (13) the bill that regulates sports betting in Brazil. The text incorporated MP 1.182/2023, the current regulation on the subject, and will now be analyzed by the deputies and then sent to the Senate.

The bill also removes the ban on betting for players who are in debt, maintaining other restrictions such as minimum age, coaches, athletes and referees, as well as people related to market regulatory bodies.

The approved text maintains the 18% rate that will be charged to betting houses operating in the Brazilian market, changing, however, the distribution of revenue within the budget planning.

Now, the distribution will be as follows:

• 2% Social Security
• 1.82% Ministry of Education
• 4% Ministry of Sports
• 2.23% for sports confederations (except CBF)
• 4% Ministry of Tourism
• 1% Embratur
• 2.55% National Public Security Fund

In the division, the percentage of the tax allocated to Social Security fell from 3% to 2% and the share of the Ministry of Sports rose from 3% to 4%. The bill also includes the tourism sector in this division.

Taxation of the betting market

According to the project’s rapporteur, Adolfo Viana, there was an attempt to reduce the tax burden charged to betting houses, but the percentage of 18% ended up being maintained at the request of the majority of parliamentarians.

The bill also maintains the concession fee that betting houses need to pay to enter the Brazilian market at R$30 million, with the term being valid for 5 years.

Prizes for individuals will be taxed at 30%, including the initial investment, in addition to winnings, a model already followed today by the federal lottery.

“Among the proposed innovations, special mention should be made of the paradigm shift in relation to fixed-odds betting, which currently only covers ‘real sports-themed events’ and which we propose should now cover ‘real or virtual events’. The expansion of this concept will allow, for example, fixed-odds betting to be offered on online games,” he highlights.

The text only deals with online casinos, offered by bookmakers.

Next steps

Once the bill is approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the text will be submitted to the Senate for consideration. If the text is approved without amendments by the senators, it will be submitted for presidential approval and will become law.

If approved by the president, the project will replace the Provisional Measure in force today, which has been awaiting analysis by the joint committee of Congress since the end of July.