The meeting aimed to alert those responsible for regulating the law that will establish rules for the online sports betting sector about the negative consequences that high taxation can bring, harming the expansion of tax collection and allowing (or even encouraging) illegal websites.
The president of Apajo reported that the law that regulated the sector in Portugal left out several products linked to online sports games, which harmed the regulated sector. Although the creation of new products is very fast, he suggested that Brazil include various modalities, such as online casinos, in its legislation.
The ANJL representative, lawyer Ana Bárbara Costa Teixeira, suggested that Brazil regulate as many products as possible to allow the regulated market to operate, especially live casinos, which are very popular in the country, representing 10% to 15%. % of online bets. She highlighted that the Brazilian public really likes game types that have more interaction.
Ineffective supervision
Ricardo Domingos said that the fight against illegal gambling has been ineffective from a legal point of view and practically half of the Portuguese market still operates irregularly. He lamented that it is very easy for gamblers to locate illegal websites in internet search engines. “Google is the biggest accomplice of illegal websites. This is how consumers reach illegal websites very easily,” he said. He also reported that several sites are able to overcome IP and payment blocks.
Domingos highlighted that in Portugal illegal websites manage to evade supervision and find mechanisms to continue advertising and believes that it is very possible that this also happens in Brazil. For him, the limitation on advertising imposed in the Brazilian legislation that is being created could end up harming only the regulated market, and in this way, the law could end up acting in a way opposite to its initial objective.
Taxation
The president of Apajo also highlighted that it is essential that the taxation rate is fair, to keep the regulated market competitive and viable, as well as to avoid greater consumer demand on illegal websites. In this regard, Bernardo Oliveira Neves, another Apajo representative who participated in the meeting, was clear: “In a situation of high taxation, there is no other option than passing on the cost to the consumer. This way, it is much more advantageous to bet on the illegal market.”
The advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance, José Francisco Mansur, said that the Portuguese scenario has been a source of studies at the body when analyzing the best forms of regulation in Brazil.
Recently, the Ministry launched Ordinance 1,330/2023 to begin the registration of companies in the sector that want to operate in the regulated market. He informed that several other ordinances to regulate the legislation, once approved, are also in the analysis phase.
Mansur highlighted that there is an ideological and religious context that makes regulation difficult and said that high taxation is also seen as a tool to avoid creating too many incentives for excessive gambling and gambling. “Apajo’s statements help us to have a vision of the aspects faced by Portuguese legislation to see what works or not and apply it in Brazil,” he said. He also invited Portuguese companies to register to operate in Brazil's regulated market.
ANJL lawyer, Pietro Cardia, praised the meeting's initiative for Brazil to develop its legislation based on the Portuguese experience. He also highlighted ANJL's alignment with the Ministry of Finance to work towards the best possible regulation and more rational taxation that makes it possible to increase tax collection in general and concrete numbers.
Apajo is a non-profit association, for the defense and promotion of the online gambling and betting sector and in particular companies that legally carry out this activity in Portugal.
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) was founded by a group of sporting bets operators with the aim of providing input to governments and agencies on best international practices. ANJL believes that this segment, once regulated, will generate billions of reais in taxes, every year, for the Brazilian government and state governments.
Source: GMB
