New provisional measure regulates sports betting in Brazil

Taxation will be set at 18% on revenue obtained from the games after the payment of prizes and income tax on the prize pool, referred to as "Gross Gaming Revenue" (GGR). The authorization, concession or permission to operate sports betting must be provided by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance, which will also regulate the conditions for obtaining the requisite licenses.  Any company obtaining such license must be Brazilian or, if foreign, must have a presence in Brazil.

In addition to addressing issues regarding taxation and authorization, MP 1182 also provides a prohibition on participation in sports betting for the following people: (i) public officials with duties directly related to the regulation, control and supervision of the activity at the federative level at which he/she exercises his/her powers.; (ii) minors under 18 years of age; (iii) persons with access to computerized fixed-odds lottery systems; (iv) persons who may have influence on the results of the games, such as coaches, referees and athletes; and (v) persons registered in national credit protection registers. With respect to public supervisory agents, persons with access to computerized fixed-odds lottery systems and those who can influence the results of the games, the prohibition also extends to spouses, partners and certain other family members.

The partners and shareholders of sports betting companies may not hold shares in football corporations or in a professional sports organization, nor act as a manager of a Brazilian sports team..

The distribution of the amounts collected will be as follows: (i) 10% contribution to Social Security; (ii) 3% to the Ministry of Sports; (iii) 2.55% to the National Public Security Fund; (iv) 1.63% to clubs and professional athletes who have their marks and names linked to betting; and (v) 0.82% to certain public education entities. Monetary prizes and winnings will be taxed at a rate of 30%.

The rules have already taken effect, as an ordinary federal law, but remain subject to approval a by the Brazilian Congress within a maximum period of 120 days. If the Brazilian Congress fails to vote on the rules within the prescribed time period or if the MP is otherwise rejected by Congress, it will lose its effectiveness.

Authored by Isabel Costa Carvalho, David Tyler and Rafael Scatamacchia.

*Hogan Lovells is registered and licensed as a foreign legal consultancy with the Brazilian Bar Association. In accordance with Brazilian Bar Association rules, Hogan Lovells does not practice Brazilian law and the discussion above regarding Brazilian laws, rules and/or regulations has been obtained from publicly-available sources and is for informational purposes only. The discussion above is limited by the nature of our practice in Brazil and is solely derived from publicly-available information. The information contained herein should not to be construed as legal advice or otherwise be a substitute for advice provided by practitioners licensed to practice Brazilian law.