Brazil’s Tax Chief Defends Bet Ban With Revenue Claims That Don’t Match the Government’s Own Numbers

Robinson Barreirinhas, head of Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service, told O Globo he is not worried about the revenue hit from the MP that banned fixed-odds betting because the money will be spent elsewhere. The problem is that the government’s own data on regulated betting says the sector already pays a lot of tax, and the “money leaves the country” line only really fits the illegal market the ban strengthens.

1. Barreirinhas argued that taxing bets is “bad” because it happens only once and the money then leaves the country. He also said he has “no doubt” that tax collection in other sectors will rise in 2027 as spending shifts from betting to commerce, services, and goods.
2. BNLData checked those claims against official data from the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA/MF), obtained through the Lei de Acesso à Informação, plus Lei 14.790/2023 and numbers cited by the government itself. Its conclusion on the first claim is blunt: false. In 2025, the first year of the regulated market, the sector collected R$ 9,95 bilhões in federal taxes such as IRPJ, CSLL, PIS/Cofins and Contribuição Previdenciária, on top of R$ 4,5 bilhões for the legal beneficiaries defined by law.
3. The Fazenda’s own figures put GGR (gross gaming revenue, meaning revenue after prizes paid out) at R$ 36,9 bilhões in the same year. That makes the effective burden about 27% on federal taxes alone, according to Receita, and between 31% and 40% once ISS and payroll charges are added. In other words: this is not a one-off levy. Licensed operators pay a contribution on GGR, IRPJ, CSLL, PIS/Cofins and ISS, plus payroll charges.
4. The article also rejects the idea that regulated betting money simply “goes abroad.” Under Lei 14.790/2023, an authorized operator must be a company incorporated in Brazil, with headquarters and management in the country and a minimum Brazilian partner stake in the capital. Deposits, withdrawals and prizes must pass through institutions authorized by Banco Central, in accounts held in Brazil.
5. The part that can go offshore is profit remittance, which is standard for any multinational operating in Brazil. The rest stays in the country: taxes, legally earmarked transfers, salaries for about 15 mil t, the R$ 30 milhões license fee paid by each company for five years, and the Taxa de Fiscalização. For PSPs and acquirers in high-risk verticals, that is the real policy issue here: the regulated market is a domestic payment and tax flow, while a ban tends to push volume back into the illegal side.