The group argues that the project does not regulate the sector and criticizes that there is no guidance in the proposal on the supervision of these games.
The rapporteur, senator Ângelo Coronel (PSD-BA), claims that the segment is the one that contributed most to the collection and, therefore, will not exclude it. The Ministry of Finance's estimate is that the government will raise around R$2 billion (US$ 410m) in 2024 from the proposal.
During the reading, Coronel once again stated that this is a modern project that regulates an activity that already exists and that does not pay taxes. He further stated that “Brazil will be the biggest market in the world, even bigger than the United Kingdom, with the start of regulated sports betting in the country.”
The opposition asked Senator Veneziano Vital do Rêgo (MDB-PB), vice-president of the House, who commanded the Senate session, to postpone the vote. He took the place of President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG), while he is in Dubai for COP 28 (United Nations Conference on Climate Change). The postponement worries the government, as the project is one of the economic team's priorities to increase revenue in 2024.
The rapporteur made changes to the proposal. Therefore, if the text is approved, it returns to the Chamber for further analysis of the changes proposed in the project and then for presidential sanction. The sector eagerly awaits the end of the procedures and the publication of ordinances and regulations to begin the process of searching for grants.
In the plenary, Coronel accepted three suggestions from senators Kajuru (PSB-GO) and Leila Barros (PDT-DF). One of the amendments accepted by the rapporteur changes the tax rate for Fantasy Sport prizes — an electronic modality in which virtual disputes take place based on the performance of real people.
In the Senate, the proposal was analyzed by the Economic Affairs and Sports committees. The project establishes taxation of prizes and betting houses, defines operating fees and stipulates rules for advertising in the sector.
Main points of the approved text
The project's rapporteur reduced the tax rate on the gross revenue of bookmakers from 18% to 12% and established a 15% rate on prizes obtained by bettors. The text approved by the deputies established a higher tax rate — as the Treasury wanted.
Among the criteria, the Senate included the condition of having at least one Brazilian person as a partner holding at least 20% of the legal entity's share capital. The partner or shareholder may not hold direct or indirect participation in:
Companies that want to operate in the market will still have to pay a license of up to R$30 million (US$ 6.15m) , which will be defined by the Treasury. The authorization will be valid for up to three trademarks for five years.
This was another change made by the rapporteur: in the proposal approved by the Chamber, the same value was foreseen, but for only one brand and only for three years.
Bookmakers must adopt identification procedures that allow the validity of the bettors' identity to be verified, requiring the use of identification and facial recognition technology.
134 companies have already presented an expression of interest
As stated by GMB and confirmed by the Ministry of Finance, 134 companies have already presented official prior expressions of interest in the grant, which demonstrates the sector's interest in Brazil's regulated market.
From grants alone, these 134 expressions of interest in a license would already guarantee the government a revenue of R$4.02 billion (US$ 825m).
In the view of José Francisco Manssur, special advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance, this significant number of requests "represents the result of constant dialogue between the Ministry of Finance and all segments of this market, in the construction of safe and reliable regulation for everyone involved.”
Companies that presented a prior expression of interest will have priority for authorization requests, as soon as the deadline for receiving applications and grant payments opens.
Source: GMB
