Brazil plans to tax revenue from sports betting firms at 15%

BRASILIA : Brazil's Finance Ministry is expected to levy a 15 per cent tax on the revenue of sports betting companies, in addition to requiring a fee of 30 million reais ($5.93 million) to operate in the country, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The rules will be enforced through an executive order, which is being finalized by the government and should be published after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad return from an official trip to China next week.

The plan's details were first reported by local news website Poder360 and confirmed by Reuters, which had previously reported the government's intention to require betting firms to be based in the country.  

The move is part of government efforts to boost fiscal revenue to offset increasing social spending, which also include a crackdown targeting Asian e-commerce giants such as AliExpress, owned by Alibaba Group, Shopee, owned by Sea Ltd, and Shein.

One of the people responsible for drafting the rules said that the 15 per cent tax will be levied on the gross gaming revenue, the revenue obtained from all bets made, minus the prizes paid to players.

Haddad has previously said that the government expects the measure to generate between 12 billion reais ($2.37 billion) and 15 billion reais ($2.96 billion) for public coffers.

A law passed in 2018 allowed betting companies such as bet365, Betano and Betfair to operate in the country. They have surged in popularity since, becoming sponsors of major soccer clubs and ensuring brand exposure during matches in recent years.

($1 = 5.0566 reais)