Brazil to tax online sports betting 

The taxation of online sports betting in Brazil will be the alternative to compensate for the loss of revenue by correcting the income tax (IR) table.

This was announced on Wednesday (1) by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad.

According to him, most countries tax this practice, and the regulation could happen as early as this month.

“I will regulate. We readjusted the IR table, and that has a small loss. We will tax these electronic games that do not pay taxes but take a fortune from the country,” he said in an interview.

“These types of games are taxed worldwide,” he added.

Although the minister was referring to electronic games, the Ministry of Finance press office clarified that Haddad was referring to online sports betting, mainly on soccer results, also called sports betting.

The measure would not cover video games or electronic sports, known as e-sports.

In the interview, the minister did not specify how much the government would collect from this measure.

According to him, the economic team is still studying the tax implications.

“The gain would be in the order of several billion reais. Not many [billions], but some.”

Currently, the Ministry of Finance is finalizing the proposal to correct the income tax table, one of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s campaign promises.

In an interview with CNN Brazil two weeks ago, Lula said the government intends to raise the exemption limit from R$1,903.98 to R$2,640, the equivalent of two minimum wages, starting in May.

According to the tax agency, when the measure takes effect in two months, the government will lose R$3.2 billion in tax revenue this year.

For 2024, the impact would be R$6 billion (US$1 is equivalent to 5.21 reais).