Finance minister says Brazil doesn’t depend on betting taxes as calls to ban gambling grow
Brazil Finance Minister Dario Durigan stated the country does not depend on betting revenue to balance public accounts.
He said the regulation was well established and not with the intention of raising revenue.
“Tax collection is part of the economic game and all sectors contribute,” Durigan said. “The same happens with betting.”
He argued the sector should be treated with the same rigour currently applied to cigarettes.
In an interview with Guilherme Amado’s column in Amado Mundo, Durigan said the government of Brazil and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had fulfilled what was defined in the law that established sports betting.
“The legislation mandated the regulation of the sector, which did not happen in the previous administration,” he explained. “We came into government with the sector operating for almost five years.
“We saw that they had entered football and advertising, and they have political and economic weight. Understanding that Congress would not prohibit the activity, we decided to put the brakes on and establish the rules.
“It’s not that I want to collect taxes because I need the money. I want to collect taxes for the sake of fairness: if a company sells cars, it pays taxes; if it sells drinks, it pays taxes. If it’s authorised to operate, it has to pay.”
In the interview, the minister mentioned the tax changes proposed by the Ministry of Finance, and more recently, the ban on beneficiaries of social welfare programmes from gambling.
Lula’s discomfort about betting in Brazil
Durigan recalled that Lula has already made clear his discomfort with the cost and quality of life for people.
“Therefore, we have been having this debate,” he added. “I have been to Congress, the Supreme Federal Court, and the Attorney General’s office to talk about the impact of betting on the lives of Brazilians.
“We have made progress, such as increasing the direct tax to 15% and including the activity in the Selective Tax. Those benefiting from social programmes and those who joined the Desenrola programme were also prohibited from betting.”
He also pointed to the self-exclusion mechanism adopted by the government.
“The debate about prohibition will remain open in the country for the next few years,” he said. “It will be an institutional debate between the Supreme Court, Congress and the executive branch.
Durigan did not indicate that the government would prohibit the activity.