The president of the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL), Wesley Cardia, welcomes Provisional Measure (PM) 1,182, which regulates sports betting in Brazil. In an exclusive conversation with GMB, he states that the PM meets an old expectation of the sector and brings security to gamblers and committed companies.
“The text edited by the government meets an expectation of more than 4 years from bookmakers, being the first step towards the transformation of the sector in Brazil. Today, there are companies in the country that seek the best international practices, in line with regulations and fair taxation, and those opportunists, who, behind the scenes, hope that nothing changes, to continue operating outside the rules.”
About the change in the sector's taxation, Cardia states that “talking about 16% - and now 18% -, it seems that the charge is just that, but no. This taxation is specific to the sector. That is, in addition to all the taxes that a company pays in Brazil, this 18% is added. With that, the total taxation will be over 35%, which means it is one of the highest in the world. This harms the system, as the high tax encourages illegal gambling. We are going to fight in Congress for this 18% rate to be reduced.”
According to ANJL’s president, the good relationship with parliamentarians, including participation in public hearings and meetings within the scope of the CPI-FUTE, brought the sector closer to Congress, which gives the chance to seek fine-tuning in the PM.
“It will be important to demonstrate to them again the issue of taxes. We don't want to pay a low tax, but whatever is fair for the system to work. High tax makes the operation unfeasible. Being high, it strengthens illegal gambling, as in Portugal, where 60% of bets take place on illegal sites due to high taxation,” he highlighted.
“The 100% regulated operation should take place at the end of the year or at the beginning of 2024, but with the Provisional Measure, bookmakers can already deal with their licensing. Everything will be governed by the ordinances, which are being kept confidential. So, I still don't know how this will happen, but the Ministry of Finance should immediately present such legal documents and bookmakers will be able to be guided by them to start their regulated operation,” he concluded.
Source: Exclusive GMB
