This year, the grants for approved requests will be paid. The Ministry of Finance informed the report that, as the first presentation period ends in 90 days (counted from the end of May, i.e., at the end of August), "it is not possible now to make any forecast."
When the regulation was approved, the estimate was that at least R$ 5 billion (US$ 930m) would be raised from these authorizations, which could provide relief to the public coffers in a year when the government is aiming for zero fiscal deficit.
The ministry also denied making revenue forecasts for next year, when it will begin collecting taxes and social contributions. The regulated market will start operating on January 1, 2025.
"Slow pace"
Lawmakers complain about the government's slow pace in regulating the market. Senator Angelo Coronel (PSD-BA), for instance, who reported the project that gave rise to the law, considered that there has been "slowness" in collecting the fees for operating licenses.
"There is a slowness. If the government wants money, we approved the bets in December [2023]. It's been four months already, and there is no position to make this collection," criticized the PSD senator in an interview last month.
In the parliamentarian's view, this is a possible source of compensation to cover the payroll tax relief for 17 sectors of the economy and small municipalities, which is under judicial review. The government and Congress are seeking resources to compensate for the R$ 26 billion (US$ 4.85m) tax exemption this year.
Complaints also arise from the fact that the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) operated for almost three months with an interim head. Only in April was the head appointed, lawyer Regis Dudena. The SPA is linked to the ministry headed by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad.
Launch of the system
Last week, the Betting Management System (Sigap) was launched, through which the regulation, monitoring, and supervision of the market will be carried out. This is another step in the regulation, handled by the secretariat linked to the Ministry of Finance.
Through the system, interested parties can initiate the process of requesting authorization to operate fixed-odds betting.
Sigap will also allow the monitoring of responsible gambling, the supervision of betting operations, and other points related to the activities of the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets.
So far, only one application appears in the system, from Kaizen Gaming Brasil Ltda., which operates the Betano brand. In a preliminary expression of interest, over 130 companies have shown an intention to operate in the Brazilian market. However, these companies have not received any guarantee of approval of their requests nor made any commitment to submit them.
"On the other hand, several traditional companies in the international market did not apply for this list but have already approached the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets to express their interest in the Brazilian market. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate how many companies from the preliminary list will submit requests, and it is equally difficult to estimate the requests from those not on the list," the Ministry of Finance informed.
The Sigap list will be updated as authorizations come in. "Only completed requests count, not those still submitting documents," clarified the ministry.
The authorization request process is continuous, meaning it will never be interrupted. Companies that submit a request with the necessary documentation within 90 days will be guaranteed to receive a response by the end of December 2024.
Source: Metrópoles
