“We are evaluating whether another contribution would be appropriate – it is a bit like what happens with the discussion of gambling, which created a 15% rate. It's like a Cide (Contribution for Intervention in the Economic Domain) of gaming. We are evaluating the viability of this,” explained the senator.
Because of this novelty, the Bill, which is already in the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) and was expected to be discussed at the beginning of this month, has not yet passed the senators' scrutiny. “I asked for more time to consult the Treasury, the Revenue about this. I believe that the answer will come soon and that, in the coming weeks, we will address the issue,” predicted the rapporteur.
Industry companies pay taxes like firms in other sectors, based on actual or presumed profit. The senator alleges that the regulation itself will already bring more movement to the industry and the projection of both the government and the private sector is for a vertiginous growth in the area after the creation of a legal framework. "It is a market that can be quintupled," considered Irajá.
Authored by deputy Kim Kataguiri (União Brasil-SP), Bill 2796/21 creates the legal framework for the electronic games industry and for fantasy games. In 2022, fantasy games – such as Cartola and Rei do Pitaco, for example – moved R$ 70 million (US$ 14m) in Brazil and generated 5 thousand direct jobs. The expectation is that growth will be 300% over the next four years and create 20,000 direct jobs.
In the case of electronic games, which are basically applications, the movement was R$ 10 billion (US$ 2b) last year, with the generation of 12 thousand direct jobs. With the approval of the Bill, the expectation is to move R$ 40 billion (US$ 8b) a year and have 50 thousand direct jobs.
Industry development
The private sector is anxious for the approval of the Bill by the senators after the green light given by the Chamber of Deputies. “Bill 2796 is essential for the development of the Fantasy Sport industry in Brazil,” Bárbara Teles, Director of Government Relations at the Brazilian Association of Fantasy Sport (ABFS), told Estadão/Broadcast.
She explained that, in the Apple and Google stores, game applications that involve cash prizes and do not have specific legislation in Brazil, despite being considered legal, are taxed.
Thus, according to ABFS, platforms condition companies to use Apple Pay and Google Pay, charging 30% of the transacted amount, such as fees paid by users, deposits and even on the value of prizes.
“With the Bill becoming law, we managed to change our framework in the internal policy of Google and Apple and we will no longer have this high charge of imposed fees,” commented Teles. The director, however, did not know about the possibility of creating a “Cide” for the sector.
O Estadão/Broadcast contacted the Federal Revenue, but the secretariat informed that it does not comment on legislative proposals in progress.
Source: Estadão / Broadcast
