Until the eve of the vote on Bill 2,234/2022, its approval by the Senate Plenary was considered certain. Parliamentarians in favor of the proposal were certain that it would receive 45 votes, four more for approval.
However, the Bill ended up being removed from the agenda at the request of Senator Irajá (PSD-TO) himself, after numerous speeches against the matter and the message that he would not get the necessary votes. Identifying that the winds had changed direction, it decided to request a postponement.
The Ministry of Finance reportedly issued a warning that one of the articles in the text under discussion about a loophole could facilitate money laundering by operators. Article 103 of the bill defines a rate on gross revenue “without the incidence of any other contributions or taxes on revenue, income or profits arising from the operation of games.”
By eliminating taxation on revenue (PIS/Cofins) and profit (IRPJ/CSLL), the article creates tax immunity for companies in the sector – which, due to the nature of the business, already makes it difficult to track the resources accounted for by companies.
The absence of taxation on betting houses would make it difficult to map the resources that would enter these ventures – thus increasing the risk of money laundering through the activity.
The Ministry of Planning, led by Simone Tebet, distributed an information note recommending the rejection of the bill. The analysis suggests that, if it were to become law, the text would have “negative social and economic impacts on the Brazilian population, especially in the lower income brackets.”
The Ministry estimated that, since it is not a productive activity, most of the revenue “will come from a change in the population’s spending profile, which would stop consuming other goods and services and instead invest its resources in gambling.”
In view of these influences from the ministries, the project was removed from the agenda so that the Development, Finance and Health ministries could express their opinions on the project and the impacts that its approval could cause.
After the information is returned, the matter will be discussed again in the Social Affairs, Economic Affairs and Public Security committees. Since amendments were presented in the plenary, it is possible that a new report will be necessary.
Source: GMB
