Federative Republic of Brazil
Brazil opened one of the largest newly regulated gambling markets in the world when its licensed fixed-odds betting and online gaming market went live on 1 January 2025, overseen by the Secretaria de Premios e Apostas (SPA) within the Ministry of Finance. Licensing is deliberately expensive: an operator pays a federal authorisation fee for a five-year term covering a limited number of brands, which was designed to favour capitalised entrants and thin out the grey operators that had served Brazilian players for years. Payments must run through licensed domestic financial institutions, and the regime imposes identification requirements intended to stop third-party and anonymous funding. The defining operator issue in 2026 is tax. The gross gaming revenue tax rose from 12% to 13% on 1 January 2026 under a complementary law passed in December 2025, and is scheduled to reach 14% in 2027 and 15% in 2028, with the increase earmarked half to social security and half to health. Advertising is permitted but constrained, and the political mood has hardened as parliamentary inquiries have examined the social cost of betting. Brazil is now the test case for whether a large, late-regulating market can convert scale into a durable licensed sector.
Lei nº 14.790, de 29 de dezembro de 2023, on fixed-odds betting and online gaming
Interministerial Ordinance No. 73/2026 on betting advertising
SPA/MF Ordinance No. 1,964/2026 on standardised advertising warnings
Phased GGR tax increase under the December 2025 complementary law.
Phased GGR tax increase under the December 2025 complementary law.
Operators should model the phased GGR tax to 15% by 2028 into their Brazil P&L now. The federal licensing regime, local establishment requirement and the statute-level fee schedule under Law 14.790/2023 remain the entry gate, and the exact current figures should be confirmed against the primary law text.
More than 1.2 million people, 3% of every active bettor registered with the regulator, have barred themselves from Brazil's licensed betting sites since the central platform opened in December. The figure arrived in a week when the Supreme Court received rival petitions on the betting law and the central bank told banks to stop advertising bets inside their apps.
The government's submission to Congress projects R$41.9 billion from the new Selective Tax. Divide the betting share by the estimated base and you get about 15%, though the Finance Ministry has set no rate and the honest range is wider.
Bill 2.470/2026 would ban direct and indirect betting advertising and outlaw bonuses and cashback. The provision the industry should read twice is the one creating a federal risk assessment that could block roulette, slots and crash games outright.
A childhood and youth court in Campina Grande has told the Finance Ministry and the telecoms regulator to remove Pixbet's sites and apps, fined it R$4.7 million and appointed an expert to test whether its age checks work at all.
The CCJ passed the base text by symbolic vote on 2 September, with the 30% transfer of betting revenue to public security funds removed. Amendments were not reached, and are now expected only after the elections.
Three associations issued statements within hours of each other. All three make the same point: the regulator was missing too, and the figures presented to the president went untested.
The provision that would have routed 30% of fixed-odds betting revenue to public security is out of the report filed in the Senate's justice committee. It has not been voted on yet, and the sports bodies that lobbied against it stand to keep about R$500 million a year.
The Brazilian president spent four hours hearing evidence against the industry his own government licensed two years ago. The Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas, which regulates it, does not appear on the attendance list.
The penalty is modest by the standards of Brazilian enforcement. The reason it had to be served through the official gazette is not: the regulator went to the address Pixbet has on file and the company was not there.
Camara dos Deputados (Portal da Camara) (translated)
The migrated Strapi value was 12%. Multiple sources confirm the increase to 13% for 2026 under the December 2025 complementary law (PLP 128/2025).
Government of Brazil
Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas
Presidência da República, Casa Civil