In an interview with Folha in March, the Secretary for Economic Reforms at the Ministry of Finance, Marcos Barbosa Pinto, said that the government is still calibrating estimates of potential revenues with the measure.
"It is an activity that is not taxed today. We do not have precise numbers of what is happening in the world, and much of it is illegal. So, it is difficult to estimate. It is easier to estimate when you already have revenue and it is increasing the rate," he said.
According to him, the best international experiences point to taxing companies, leaving residual taxation for the gambler. The secretary also points out that the activity deals with a series of negative externalities, such as addiction and money laundering.
"What we need to find is the optimal level of taxation, the level that makes the activity possible here and it remains illegal through websites around the world, but also that collects the maximum possible, enough to compensate for the externalities that are being imposed here in the country," he said.
"We need to regulate and tax because this negative externality is having an impact on the Brazilian economy," he added.
The activity has been provided for by law since 2018, but, according to the Treasury, the lack of regulation on how the law should be applied left the sector without clear rules to be complied with and without taxation.
In early March, Haddad stated that, with the taxation of the electronic betting market, the government intends to compensate for the loss of revenue by updating the exemption range of the IRPF (Individual Income Tax) table.
The minister's objective was to wait for president Lula to return to China, a trip that did not take place. With the presentation of the new tax framework, there are no more reasons to wait and the Provisional Measure that will regulate sports betting should be announced in the coming days.
"We are going to regulate [internet gaming]. We readjust the IR table and this has a small loss of revenue, but it does. We are going to compensate with taxation on these electronic games that do not pay any tax and take a fortune of money from the country," said the minister.
The head of the Treasury met on March 14 with representatives of gaming and lottery companies, including firms such as Betano, Betnacional and GaleraBet.
Source: GMB / Folha
