Brazil's finance minister Dario Durigan said the country does not rely on betting taxes to balance its budget. Regulation was introduced to bring order to a sector that had operated for five years without rules, not to raise revenue.
'Tax collection is part of the economic game, all sectors pay,' Durigan told the Amado Mundo column. 'The same applies to betting.' He compared the approach to cigarette regulation and said that once a company receives a licence, it must pay taxes like car manufacturers or alcohol producers.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government implemented what the sports betting law passed by the previous administration required. When the current cabinet took office, operators had already been working for almost five years, entered football and advertising, and built political and economic weight. Understanding that congress would not ban the industry, the government decided to set rules.
Durigan pointed to recent measures: the direct tax was raised to 15%, betting was included in selective taxation, and social benefit recipients and Desenrola programme participants were banned from placing bets. A self-exclusion mechanism was introduced.
President Lula has expressed concern about the impact of betting on Brazilians' living standards. Durigan held consultations in congress, the Supreme Court and the attorney general's office on the issue. The minister acknowledged that debates over a ban will continue for several more years between the court, parliament and the executive. But he gave no signals that the government is preparing to prohibit betting.
