"The project only dealt with online sports betting, when we all know that the bulk of these online bets are in games of chance, such as online casinos, and so on. So the project must encompass all the circumstances of everything that is done online, contrary to Brazilian legislation, the payment of taxes, job creation," said the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira.
The betting sites that operate in the country have, for the most part, both a sports betting area and games of chance, which include virtual versions of casino machines and the most diverse games in which winning or losing money depends exclusively on luck.
Online casino is currently prohibited
Legislation passed in 2018, but which is only being regulated now, only authorizes sports betting. Adolfo Viana's report, however, also includes gambling in the text. If the idea is approved by Congress, betting and online casinos would be governed by the same legislation.
This is what justifies a change in taxation. The PM, built within the Ministry of Finance, stipulates that bets pay 18% of GGR (the difference between revenue and what is paid in prizes) in the form of taxes. The sector believes that this represents something around R$ 2 billion (US$ 405m) and R$ 3 billion (US$ 605m) a year.
Adolfo Viana's report suggests a 12% tax on the GGR, but which would also include online casinos, which today operate in Brazil without paying taxes and already advertise even in Brazilian Championship football games. The total amount collected would be much higher than projected, and would also fatten the coffers of the Ministry of Sport, which is entitled to a slice of 1/6 of the cake.
Viana even discussed with the Ministry of Finance that the tax be even lower, at 8%, which the government said it would not support. Regarding casinos, the Treasury's position is that it is up to Congress to decide. Historically, the evangelical group strongly opposes the idea.
New secretary
Parallel to Viana's report, the first of nine ordinances foreseen by the Ministry of Finance regulating the sector is also about to be published. The text provides for the creation of a Sports Betting Secretariat, subordinated to the Minister of Finance, and which would be occupied by José Francisco Manssur, a special advisor who has been centralizing discussions on the subject since the beginning of the government.
Arthur Lira's PP, however, would have placed it as a condition for accepting Sport, seen as a small ministry: that the Secretariat for Sports Betting go there. This would weaken the ministry of Fernando Haddad (PT), who opposes the idea, but knows that the final decision will be President Lula's.
Until last night, Lula still hadn't hammered out Ana Moser's resignation to hand over the Ministry of Sports to André Fufuca, deputy of the PP. In conversation with the former player, he heard her arguments and said that a decision should be taken today (6).
Source: UOL
