Brazil’s Finance Minister calls for tougher betting taxation

Fernando Haddad defends higher taxes on betting companies.

Brazil’s Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, has once again called for stronger taxation on sports betting companies, accusing them of profiting massively in the country while contributing little to job creation or the national economy.

Haddad argued that the Lula administration is working to “frame betting operators once and for all.”

He stressed that these companies are “making a fortune in Brazil, generating very little employment and sending the profits abroad,” suggesting they should be taxed similarly to sectors such as tobacco and alcohol.

Haddad criticised former President Jair Bolsonaro for failing to impose any taxes on the industry: “The previous Government treated betting companies as if they were charitable organisations. Not a single cent of tax was collected in four years.”

Good to know: The national Ministry of Finance has recently joint forces with the Brazilian Federation of Banks to promote healthy gambling

A provisional measure was recently introduced to raise taxes on betting platforms operating in Brazil, part of a package of fiscal reforms backed up by the President, aimed at correcting what Haddad calls “privileges” granted under the former administration.

The minister also confirmed that the Congress had initially supported the government’s push to regulate the market but ended up approving a lower tax rate than proposed. He now intends to revert to the original plan for stricter taxation.

Carlos Mendez

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Odds tell a story long before the result does. When bettors learn to read that story properly, betting becomes a matter of discipline and value rather than emotion or guesswork.

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