New tax would set “ a dangerous precedent” says ANJL
The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) has expressed its concern over bill PL 5582 of 2025, which would put in place a 15% Contribution for Intervention in the Economic Domain (CIDE) tax on bettor deposits. The government intends to funnel the revenue into a fund aimed at combating organized crime, with a focus on increasing prison capacity.
According to the ANJL, the proposal requires prior consultation with the betting industry as it significantly affects the regulations that establish guidelines for both economic sustainability and the protection of bettors. The ANJL argues that no country has successfully implemented a tax on bettor deposits because when users encounter any form of tax on their deposits for betting, they tend to move to unregulated operators.
The organisation, which represents some of the leading operators in Brazil, stated that it was “essential to clarify that the betting operator acts as a custodian of the client’s resources. The money, even after being deposited on the platform, remains the property of the bettor. Taxing this stage of the operation would be akin to charging a tax for a citizen to deposit their money in a bank account or load a prepaid card—this sets a dangerous precedent with no parallels in the Brazilian tax system.”
The ANJL argued that there “are much more efficient and less harmful alternatives to fund public security, such as using part of the already-existing billion-dollar revenue from the taxation on GGR, without the need to create a new tax.”
In addition the new tax at this early stage generates unpredictability and legal insecurity. The organisation concluded by saying that the new proposals threaten to undermine the confidence of companies that have “invested billions of reais in formalizing the sector in Brazil, responding to a call from the government itself.”
According to proponents of the bill the projected revenue from the new CIDE tax is estimated at R$ 32 billion annually. This amount would subsequently be distributed among the security forces across municipal, state, and federal levels. Meanwhile half of the funds would finance the creation of new prison spaces while R$ 6 billion would be allocated to the Federal Police.
