Market Roundup: Rules for betting platforms to be set in four stages

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Infralegal regulation of sports betting in Brazil begins

In December, both the Senate and the House approved a bill laying the foundations for the regulation of sports betting in Brazil. At the turn of the new year, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the bill, partially vetoing the text by removing a provision that made all winnings below the country’s monthly income tax threshold, currently BRL 2,112 (USD 417), tax-free.

Why it matters. Brazil is among the world’s top markets for online sports betting. A study by ComScore placed the country as the third-largest market, with 42.5 million unique users, behind only the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, data from SimilarWeb showed Brazil as the world leader in sports betting, accounting for almost 23 percent of the traffic on global sports betting sites.

More importantly, regulating the sector means bringing in hundreds of millions in tax revenue. In addition to taxing winnings by 15 percent, the Federal Revenue Service will also take 12 percent of betting companies’ revenue.
According to last year’s estimates from the Finance Ministry, the country can raise between BRL 348.3 million and BRL 648 million yearly, just by taxing large winnings.

State of play. This week, the Finance Ministry...

Fabiane Ziolla Menezes

Former editor-in-chief of LABS (Latin America Business Stories), Fabiane has more than 15 years of experience reporting on business, finance, innovation, and cities in Brazil. The latter recently took her back to the classroom and made her a Master in Urban Management from PUCPR. At TBR, she keeps an eye on economic policy, game-changing businesses, and people driving innovation in Latin America.