The article proposes the legalization of all types of games, such as casinos integrated into resorts, urban and tourist casinos, jogo do bicho, sports betting, bingos, skill games and horse racing. Licenses will be awarded through auctions, and games will be overseen by a federal regulatory and supervisory body.
“Foz do Iguaçu needs to be contemplated with a casino in order to guarantee the permanence of visitors for a longer period. Many will bet in the countries where the game is released, such as Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina,” says Vermelho.
In December, the Chamber of Deputies approved the urgency for the text, which gives it priority on the agenda. The presidents of the Chamber, Arthur Lira, and of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, are in favor of the project, although they faced resistance from some members of the evangelical bench.
Party leaders from the situation bench say that the rough edges have been smoothed out in recent days and that the issues surrounding the vote on the text have been pacified. President Bolsonaro does not want a fight with the evangelical bench and prefers a consensus to avoid being pressured for a possible veto.
Working group
Vermelho is part of the Working Group (WG) of the Tourism Commission, in charge of modernizing and updating the project. “Brazil already has the jogo do bicho and some online games operating outside the law, evading taxes and leaving workers without guarantees. We need to legalize the games to generate formal jobs and increase the collection to invest in the social,” explains the deputy.
A study by Legal Gaming Institute (IJL) says that the legalization of games can generate R$ 20 billion a year to the public coffers and generate more than 700 thousand formal jobs.
The same study says that Singapore attracted around 9 million tourists a year before legalizing casinos — now that's 19 million. In Macau, visitors jumped from 7.4 million to 35 million, he adds. Brazil has never exceeded 7 million international tourists.
More investments in the country
Deputy Vermelho argues that the legalization of casinos should boost foreign investment in the country, in addition to increasing the permanence of tourists here. “It's another public profile that can be developed with tourism packages linked to other niches, such as adventure and shopping. There is enormous potential to significantly expand the demands,” he points out.
Collection
One of the debates to be held during the course of the project with regard to casinos will be the sharing of tax collection.
The expectation is for a turnover of more than R$ 74 billion per year. The taxes generated would reach R$ 20 billion. With this, the City Hall will have a new source of revenue because in addition to charging the ISSQN, it will have a larger share in the FPM.
Source: Portal da Cidade Foz
