Duarte will mobilize a team to listen to the sector and file the project in Rio de Janeiro in the first half of this year. According to the parliamentarian, the sector's activities have grown strongly in Brazil and in the world in recent years, so Rio has to develop competitiveness.
“One of the biggest tourist destinations in the world cannot continue losing jobs to other Brazilian capitals. Reducing the ISS for a sector that has been in growing demand in Brazil and the world, which works directly with technology, innovation and sports, is an important step for Rio de Janeiro to become competitive, attract new investments and, most importantly, generate new job opportunities,” comments councilor Pedro Duarte, who adds that taxation today is 5% by rule.
Last year, the city of Sao Paulo took the lead with Bill 613/2022, to reduce the ISS for lottery, bingo, sports betting, games and fantasy games.
Before, the matter ended up in the Federal Supreme Court (STF), when, in 2020, the judiciary judged “constitutional”, the incidence of ISS on the value of bets of any nature. The majority of the STF accompanied the rapporteur at the time, Minister Gilmar Mendes. The ministers also agreed that the ISS calculation basis should be the amount to be remunerated for providing the service, "regardless of the ticket charge, and cannot correspond to the total value of the bet."
The decision came precisely from an action on the tax on the value of bets received by the Jockey Club Brasileiro, in the South Zone of Rio, after a decision by the Rio Court of Justice to classify the activity as “service” and “taxable”. The entity considered that the measure was confiscatory in nature and alleges that it would violate the Constitution, since the calculation base adopted is specific to Income Tax, which is the competence of the Union and not of the City Hall.
Source: Diário do Rio
