Brazil regulatory roundup: Sports betting taxation to switch to GGR

Gustavo Guimaraes, Secretary of SECAP of the Brazilian Ministry of Economy, speaks on the progress of lottery and sports betting regulation in Brazil.

Although taxation move away from turnover to GGR is good news, there are still a lot of details to work out for the licensing and regulatory framework to be ready by the 2022 deadline.

Alongside taxation, two other challenges are still being faced by regulator SECAP: infra-legal regulation to avoid legal conflict, and efforts to privatise the sector to promote competition. Learning from the best international best practice, SECAP’s primary goal is to protect the player, while also creating a competitive environment for the industry.

The pressure is on, says Guimaraes, as the Brazilian society and economy depend on SECAP efforts to establish a healthy gaming market in the country. In the first period of 2019, traditional lotteries operated by CAIXA - through 13.000 POS in over 5.000 cities - demonstrated growth.

This year, federal lotteries already generated more than BRL2.70BN for good causes in the first four months of the year, representing a rise of 13% when compared with the same period last year. Those results show the potential of the Brazilian market.