Brazil Gambling Regulation Explained: Licences, Tax and the Rules

Brazil regulated online betting and gaming in the largest single market opening the industry has seen in a decade. Law 14,790 of December 2023 set the framework, the Ministry of Finance wrote the rules through 2024, and the authorised market opened on 1 January 2025 with a list of operators that had cleared the bar. This guide explains the legal structure, who regulates, what an authorisation requires and costs, how the tax works, the rules on payments, identity, advertising and responsible gambling, the parallel state channel, enforcement, and how the market has developed. Brazil's rules have moved every few months since launch; the secretariat's ordinances are the primary source.

The legal structure

Brazil legalised fixed-odds sports betting in Law 13,756 of December 2018 but did not regulate it, leaving a legal product with no licence to hold for six years, during which offshore brands built the market through football sponsorship. Law 14,790 of 2023 amended the 2018 law to cover online gaming as well as betting, defined the authorisation regime, set the tax, and gave the Ministry of Finance the power to regulate through ordinances (portarias). The Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas, SPA) inside the ministry issues the ordinances, grants authorisations and supervises.

The ordinances cover the authorisation process, technical requirements, payments, know-your-customer, anti-money-laundering, responsible gambling, advertising, the permitted games, data, and reporting. They were issued in a sequence through 2024 and refined after launch; an operator's compliance function tracks them individually.

The federal authorisation

An authorisation is granted to a Brazilian legal entity with at least 20% of its share capital held by Brazilians, with headquarters and administration in Brazil, for five years, at a fee of 30 million reais covering up to three brands. Requirements include:

• Corporate and beneficial-ownership disclosure and suitability of directors and shareholders.
• Financial capacity, including a financial reserve to protect player balances.
• Technical certification of the platform and every game by an approved laboratory, and integration with the SPA's monitoring systems, which receive transaction data.
• A data position in Brazil and compliance with the LGPD, Brazil's data protection law.
• Policies and systems for KYC, AML, responsible gambling and complaints.
• A Brazilian legal representative and local governance.

The first authorisations were granted in late 2024 to operators that had applied early; hundreds of brands that had served the grey market either applied, partnered with an applicant, or were shut out. The authorised list is published by the SPA and is the definitive statement of who may operate.

Tax

The fiscal model: a 12% tax on gross gaming revenue paid by the operator, the authorisation fee, and ordinary Brazilian taxes on the company (corporate income tax, social contribution, PIS/COFINS, and municipal service tax), which together take the effective burden well above the headline. Players pay 15% income tax on net winnings above the annual exemption threshold, withheld and remitted by the operator. Congress has debated raising the gaming tax repeatedly since launch, in the context of federal budget pressure; the working assumption in every business case is that the rate moves.

Payments and identity

Two rules shape the customer experience more than any other. First, deposits and withdrawals may only be made by electronic transfer through payment institutions authorised by the Central Bank, from and to accounts in the customer's own name: Pix in practice, with no cash, no credit cards, no vouchers, no crypto and no third-party payments. Second, every customer must be fully verified before play, through the national taxpayer registry (CPF) and facial biometric verification, with no play-first-verify-later. Together these give the regulated market strong AML and age controls and a friction the grey market never had.

Advertising and sponsorship

Advertising is permitted under an ordinance and a self-regulatory code administered by CONAR, the advertising standards body: mandatory responsible gambling messaging, no targeting of minors or content appealing to them, no misleading claims about winning, restrictions on influencer marketing (disclosure, no minors, no misleading claims), and rules on timing and placement. Football sponsorship, which built the grey market, remains permitted with restrictions, and the political pressure to tighten (including proposals to ban sponsorship and restrict broadcast advertising) has been constant since the first year's public debate about gambling harm.

Responsible gambling

The rules require deposit and loss limits offered to every customer, time and session controls, self-exclusion (with a national register), monitoring for signs of harm and intervention, exclusion of certain categories of person (including those receiving social benefits under a measure that drew wide attention), and responsible gambling messaging throughout the product. The first year of the regulated market coincided with a national debate about betting's effect on household finances, driven by central bank data on spending, which produced tighter rules and will produce more.

The state channel

Alongside the federal regime, some states have pursued online betting through their state lotteries, most prominently Rio de Janeiro, which licensed operators under its lottery authority. The scope of state lotteries relative to the federal authorisation, particularly whether a state licence permits serving customers outside the state, has been contested in the courts. An entrant needs to understand both channels and the current state of the litigation.

Enforcement

Unauthorised operators are subject to domain blocking through the telecoms regulator, payment blocking through the central bank and payment institutions, advertising bans, and criminal referral. Enforcement was uneven in the first months and has strengthened, with thousands of domains blocked and payment institutions instructed. The channelisation of the market into authorised operators depends on it, and the SPA has made it a priority.

The market that emerged

The authorised market opened with a competitive landscape inherited from the grey years: international groups that had sponsored clubs for a decade, local operators that grew in the grey period, and new joint ventures between media, retail and gambling companies. Acquisition costs rose sharply as authorised operators competed for the same audience with restricted tools, and several international entrants restructured or exited after the first year. The supplier market (platforms, aggregators, studios, payments, KYC and biometrics) certified for Brazil from day one and is now a condition of relevance in Latin America. Sports betting dominates by turnover; casino, permitted under the same authorisation, grew quickly; and the definition of permitted games has been refined by ordinance.

What to watch

Four things move the Brazilian market from quarter to quarter: the gaming tax rate and base, which Congress revisits with each budget cycle; the advertising and sponsorship rules, where a ban on club sponsorship or broadcast advertising would change acquisition for every operator; the courts' resolution of the state lottery question, which decides whether a second licensing channel exists; and enforcement against unauthorised operators, which sets how much of the market the authorised operators can reach. The SPA publishes ordinances, the authorised list and enforcement actions on the ministry's site, and those are the sources to check before any decision.

Frequently asked questions

Is online gambling legal in Brazil? Yes, since 1 January 2025, for operators holding a federal authorisation from the SPA (and, contestedly, under some state lottery licences).

What does a Brazilian licence cost? 30 million reais for five years covering up to three brands, plus the 12% gaming tax and ordinary corporate taxes.

Can foreign companies operate in Brazil? Through a Brazilian entity with at least 20% Brazilian shareholding and local headquarters.

What payment methods are allowed? Electronic transfers through authorised payment institutions from accounts in the customer's own name; Pix in practice. No credit cards, cash or crypto.

Is advertising allowed? Yes, under an ordinance and a self-regulatory code, with restrictions and continuing political pressure to tighten.

Related on iGaming Times

The Brazil country page carries the latest coverage and the regulatory map entry; the Latin America Market Entry course covers Brazil in depth alongside the region; and Gambling Tax Rates by Country tracks the rate debate.

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Regulation, tax and market figures move quickly, sometimes mid-year. Where this guide gives a number, treat it as a starting point and confirm the current position with the named primary source before you rely on it.