‘Internet gambling is taxed worldwide. It can’t be different here’, says Haddad
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The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, stated that the failure to charge taxes on sports betting sites results in “illegality” and the evasion of foreign exchange in the country. In an interview with UOL, Haddad declared that the country needs to have a system that is similar to that of other countries and tax the sector.
“Internet gambling is taxed worldwide. It cannot be different here. There is an absurd evasion of foreign exchange in the country. A lot of money comes out. You have no control because it’s not a physical casino, it’s a virtual casino. It is the taxation of virtual casinos, which exist and need to be regulated”, said the minister to UOL.
During the interview, Haddad also informed that the Federal Government intends to tax online betting to compensate for the loss of revenue with the increase in the Income Tax (IR) exemption ceiling. But, he did not detail the project that is being prepared at the Ministry of Finance.
According to the person in charge of the folder, the taxation of online betting tends to provide a collection between R$ 2 billion and R$ 6 billion for the government. For Haddad, the challenge in calculating the exact amount that can be obtained is what is delaying the preparation of the project – whether via a bill or via a provisional measure (MP).
“What is missing is not the MP, but the legal obligation to assess the expected collection (…) As it is something entirely new, we are gathering the available information to be able to include the forecast collection in the law or MP. Illegality manifests what is happening, and, at this moment, due to the inaction of the Federal Revenue Service, which should have already done this work”, he declared.
“These casinos, in general, are based abroad. It is not fair to the Brazilian population that this economic activity is exempt from taxation. The gain is all out there”, added the Minister of Finance.
Information about the proposal for the sports betting sector
Fernando Haddad has yet to reveal much information about the scope of the text being prepared. The Ministry of Finance also did not pass on new data, but UOL published that the proposal intends to tax fixed odds betting sites on predictions of the sporting result of games promoted by leagues, federations or other sports entities.
In other words, the objective is to charge bookmakers an interest on the result of sporting events, such as volleyball, basketball, tennis, soccer, among others. Also according to Portal UOL, the proposal should not include casinos or video games.
