SÁB 15 DE FEBRERO DE 2025 - 23:51hs.
In a technical note

Finance Ministry establishes rules for tax accounting of betting bonuses and GGR calculation

The Secretariat of Prizes and Betting (SPA) of the Ministry of Finance published rules for accounting for financial rewards that can be withdrawn from bettors unless the benefits are used for betting. The Technical Note analyzes the cases in which they should be applied to the calculation basis of the GGR and how they should be considered.

The Technical Note aims to analyze the cases in which the rewards provided by fixed-odds operators to bettors should be included in the calculation basis of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) for the purposes of financial allocations as set forth in Law No. 13,756 of December 12, 2018.

In addition, it establishes guidelines on:

(i) the way in which these operators should account for rewards in graphic accounts and transactional accounts, as set forth in Ordinance SPA/MF No. 615 of April 16, 2024;

(ii) the display of reward information in betting systems, as set forth in Ordinance SPA/MF No. 722 of May 2, 2024; and

(iii) the sending of reward data to the Betting Management System (Sigap).

The GGR is the basis for calculating all social allocations, established by Law 14.790/23, and also for collecting taxes that are levied on this economic activity (PIS, Cofins and ISS). The GGR rules for non-withdrawable financial rewards in fixed-odds bets are in Technical Note SPA MF No. 299.

These rewards, permitted by the fixed-odds bet regulation, are used by betting companies to build customer loyalty. Although they are sometimes generically called bonuses, they are different from entry bonuses, which are prohibited by Law 14.790 as a way of attracting new customers.

Withdrawable financial rewards are not included in the GGR calculation basis, unless the benefits are used by bettors to place bets. Since the regulated fixed-odds betting market began on January 1st and the tax calculation basis, as well as its collection for the National Treasury, is monthly, the Technical Note aimed to clarify how to include this type of reward.

The document guides operators on the net revenue from bets and on the rewards offered by bookmakers during the bettor's journey, highlighting that entry bonuses are prohibited by the law that regulates the sector.

The technical note explains in detail these rewards and how they make up the GGR calculation basis, clarifying the differences between “withdrawable” and “non-withdrawable” rewards.

For the SPA, the “withdrawable” reward, since it is not restricted to new bets, should only make up the GGR calculation basis if the resource offered by the operator results in bets made by the rewarded bettor.

A different case is that of the “non-withdrawable” reward, which is a financial amount that can only be used by the bettor to place bets. In this situation, the amount offered as a “non-withdrawable” reward must immediately (i.e., regardless of whether the bet itself is placed) form the basis for calculating the GGR.

The SPA determines that all rewards must be reported by CPF in the Betting Management System (Sigap), both financial and non-financial, and it is up to the operator to indicate each of them using a specific form.

The objective of the technical note is to clarify operators’ doubts about the reporting models and calculations necessary to arrive at the basis for calculating the GGR for the collection of taxes on the activity.

Source: GMB