Brazilian Senate approves sports betting legislation, rejects online betting
In a major move, Brazil’s Senate has finally passed a major bill that could pave the way for a regulated sports betting market in the country. While this represents positive development, the approval also comes with a caveat, as the Senate decided not to approve provisions related to online gambling.
The House approved the bill in September, and the Senate has been studying it regularly since then. An updated version of the Senate bill will now be sent back to the House for reconsideration.
Most of the language, amendments and amendments proposed by the Senate survived Tuesday's vote. However, they must now ride out the journey back to the House of Representatives.
What is included
For companies wishing to operate in this emerging field, specific licenses are required for online or land-based betting or a combination of both. The Finance Ministry will be responsible for issuing the license, which is valid for five years and could cost up to 30 million reais ($6 million).
In order to obtain a license, a company must meet certain criteria, including maintaining its headquarters and management in Brazil. They must also adhere to technical and cybersecurity standards, appoint a member with expertise in the area, and implement internal customer service controls.
It is worth noting that the corporate income tax reduction policy still exists. Under the approved text, sports bettors will pay 12%, not the 18% that some lawmakers wanted.
The proposed reduction from 30% to 15% has financial implications for the federal government when it comes to taxing gambling winnings. It was initially expected to generate between 2 billion and 6 billion reais ($402,600 to $1.2 million) in revenue by 2024, but may now have to settle for about half that amount.
There are also strict advertising guidelines that prevent gambling operators from providing punters with misleading information about the odds of winning. Additionally, operators must not present gambling as having social appeal, including using celebrities to suggest that participation will contribute to personal and professional success.
One of the requirements is that gambling operators must establish customer service channels via telephone or the Internet. This must be free and designed to deal with and resolve betting-related questions and requests.
What is not included
The bill's legislative implementation faces delays as senators struggle to include virtual casinos in the proposal. Although online casinos are currently banned in Brazil, their operations still exist because the companies involved are based abroad. Users can easily create an account on these platforms and declare that they are of legal age to play games such as slots, roulette, blackjack and poker.
A recent investigation into a group promoting and selling the game "Fortune Tiger", known as "Jogo do Tigre" in Brazil, has further fueled the debate among lawmakers. As well as being illegal, the slot-like game has been criticized, with many players reportedly spending their entire savings trying to win big.
As a result, some senators advocated removing "online gambling" from the bill in response to concerns raised by these investigations. They won the battle, but regulated online gambling remains unpopular in Brazil for now.
However, it's not dead, and Senator Carlos Portinho, who supports repealing iGaming, said it could come back as a standalone bill.
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Source: www.casino.org
