“We are requesting this and I believe it will convince President Hugo Motta to bring the matter to the floor, along with other related bills. We’ve gathered signatures from 34 deputies across all parties, which shows the strength of this debate taking place here,” said Rogério Correia, President of the Finance and Taxation Committee (CFT).
In addition to committee members, the meeting was attended by government-aligned lawmakers supporting the tax increase on 'Bets' — including PT party leader Lindbergh Farias, who proposed raising the GGR tax rate to 24%.
“We know the impact is enormous. Everyone has someone in their family struggling with addiction. I have here a chart showing tax rates around the world — France has 33%, Italy 20%, and here in Brazil we’re at 12%. There’s room to go much higher,” said the deputy, overlooking the fact that other general taxes applied to any economic activity also affect 'Bets'.
Including those, the total tax burden on betting operators already reaches nearly 40% of net revenue.
With the approval of the urgency motion, Lindbergh Farias’s bill can now be voted directly by the Plenary, bypassing other committees. The proposal doubles the tax rate on gross gaming revenue (GGR) from 12% to 24%, but it may be combined with other bills addressing the same issue — including one that proposes a further increase to 25%.
The initiative is being led by PT lawmakers and has the support of the government’s economic team, which is seeking to offset revenue losses caused by the end of the previous provisional measure.
Source: GMB
