Brazil’s Receita Federal will tax influencers and fintechs tied to illegal betting operators

Brazil’s Receita Federal says it will start collecting Income Tax, PIS, and Cofins from digital influencers who promote betting sites not authorized to operate in the country. The same logic will be applied to fintechs and other financial institutions that keep moving money for irregular operators after notice from the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA).

1. Secretary Robinson Barreirinhas announced the measure on Friday, 19/6, and a portaria published on Thursday, 18/6, formalized the transfer of tax obligations from illegal bets to the people and firms that help distribute them. In practice, the government is treating promotion and payment flow as parts of the same machine.
2. Barreirinhas said the enforcement covers influencers who are paid by illegal betting operators based abroad, as well as intermediaries that move funds from Brazil to those sites. His line was blunt: if the illegal bet exists because money keeps reaching it, the tax bill should land with the parties helping that flow continue.
3. According to the announcement, the Receita will charge Income Tax and PIS/Cofins on this kind of advertising, on top of the administrative sanctions already available to the SPA. Daniele Cardoso, the secretary of Prêmios e Apostas, said the Conselho Nacional de Autorregulamentação Publicitária (Conar) is helping identify influencers who promote betting sites without authorization.
4. The government also announced a decree to freeze the financial resources of illegal betting companies. Frozen amounts will go to the Fundo Nacional de Segurança Pública, and institutions with accounts linked to irregular betting operators will receive notice and have 48 hours to block the funds; the Banco Central will be informed of each notification.
5. On the infrastructure side, the Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel) will be responsible for taking down websites that offer fixed-odds betting irregularly. The Ministry of Justice will open a channel for the interested parties to present their arguments, while the Conselho Monetário Nacional (CMN) will publish a resolution detailing the administrative procedure.

For PSPs, acquirers, and banks, the practical message is simple: Brazil is not limiting pressure to the betting brands themselves. It is also targeting the people who market them and the financial pipes that keep them alive after notice from the regulator.