Brazil’s finance minister says the government does not rely on betting tax revenue, backs strict sportsbook rules, and rejects a ban

Dario Durigan, Brazil’s finance minister, said the federal government does not depend on tax revenue from bets to balance its accounts. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks looking at Brazil’s sports betting flow, the signal is simple: the policy direction is regulation and tax parity, not an outright shutdown.

1. In an interview published on Monday (14/9) in Coluna Guilherme Amado on AmadoMundo, Durigan said the government wants the sector regulated with the same rigor applied to cigarettes. He framed the issue as one of oversight, not tolerance.
2. Durigan was explicit that he is not proposing a ban on bets in Brazil. He said the debate over a possible prohibition should remain open in the coming years, but he did not support that measure.
3. According to the minister, the federal government has been reviewing the betting legislation since 2023. He said the changes were driven by regulatory concerns and tax isonomy, not fiscal need.
4. “It’s not that I want to collect because I need the money. I want to collect for isonomy; if a company sells cars, it pays tax; if it sells alcohol, it pays tax. If it is authorized to operate, it has to pay,” Durigan said. For operators, that is the core message: authorized does not mean untaxed.
5. Durigan also pointed to restrictions already in force, including a ban on betting for beneficiaries of Bolsa Família and BPC (Benefício de Prestação Continuada), as well as for participants in Desenrola, the federal debt renegotiation program. He said the self-exclusion tool on betting platforms has already been used by more than one million people.

The thing to watch in Brazil is not whether the market disappears. It is whether a stricter licensing and tax regime becomes the default operating condition for sportsbooks and the payments stack around them.