Brazil’s long-awaited bill for a federal sports betting marketplace will include modalities to regulate online casino games.
After much deliberation and significant political back and forth, the final session of the Chamber of Deputies approved Bill PL3626/23 to be sent for its federal sign-off from President Lula da Silva.
Bill PL3626/23 was returned to the Chamber of Deputies on 13 December following an inconclusive review by the Senate, which could not settle long-standing disputes on maintaining online casino games, opposed by Senators of the Liberal Party.
The Senate returned the Bill, excluding online casino modalities, stating that Deputies must review in excess of 100 changes to the legislation’s text since its submission for legislative review of federal modalities by Senate committees.
In a final effort, during the year’s concluding voting session, Evangelical deputies, in alliance with the opposition, attempted to eliminate the provision concerning online games. Nonetheless, their efforts were unsuccessful as a majority of 261 deputies voted in favour of retaining online games, while 120 voted against it.
As reported by the Chambers’ camera: “The proposal approved by the Chamber reestablished, however, the authorisation of betting for virtual online gaming events, the so-called online casinos, which had been removed from the text by the senators.”
The Chamber’s ‘Evangelical bench’ stated that they would demand Lula to remove casino modalities as the Bill enters its Presidential sign-off. The bench seeks to repeat the final events of late 2022 which saw former President Jair Bolsonaro refuse to sign sports betting into law.
The fiscal and tax structures proposed by the Brazilian Senate’s Economic Affairs Commission (CAE) were retained. In this arrangement, licensed operators in Brazil’s federal market will be subject to a 12% tax, while player prizes will incur a 15% tax.
From the income generated, 2% will be allocated to social security. Additionally, the sectors of sports and tourism will receive 6.63% and 5% of the revenue, respectively.
For licensing, operators must pay BRL 30m (approximately €5.5m) to obtain a federal licence valid for five years. This licence permits the operation of up to three brands.
Requirements for all businesses, whether foreign or domestic, include establishing a domiciled presence in Brazil and appointing a legal guardian.Betting will be managed by companies authorised by the Ministry of Finance, meeting certain requirements, including a Brazilian member on their board with at least a 20% share capital.
