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Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) has reported collecting BRL 4.73 billion in lotteries and sports betting duties for the first seven months of 2025. The figures, published on August 21, are used to reflect the rapid growth of the legal gaming sector as well as the increasing role of taxation as a support to federal sources of revenues.
Breakdown of Sources of Revenue
As per the figures, BRL 2.1 billion was directly received from wagers, and around BRL 2.6 billion was received through the imposition of tax on sport betting operators. In July alone, BRL 928 million was collected compared to a mere BRL 8 million in July 2024, an exponential rise owing to the fact that the industry was not regulated last year.
The tax rate is currently 12% of the Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) from online gaming and sports betting. The rate will, however, increase to 18% as of November 2025, a significant boost in government revenue collection expectations from the sector.
Government Expectations and Projections
Marcelo Gomide, coordinator of Forecast and Analysis at the Federal Revenue Service, explained that the mentioned BRL 4.7 billion includes contributions and taxes, plus funds destined for legally required use. BRL 2.1 billion is in the lotteries (bets) category, and the remaining amount is taxes and social contributions.
Gomide also highlighted that, as most of the collections initiated in February, after most of the first bet revenues of January were processed, the numbers available actually cover six months of taxation In line with the trend, the Federal Revenue expects the total amount for the year to virtually double the one collected so far, with at least BRL 10 billion for 2025.
Distribution of Resources
The legislation that regulates the gambling sector also dictates a clear distribution of resources to different spheres of public policy. The distribution follows these lines:
- 36% to the Ministry of Sports and sports commissions
- 28% to Tourism
- 13.6% to Public Security
- 10% to the Ministry of Education
- 10% to Social Security
- 1% to Health
- 0.5% to civil society associations
- 0.5% to the Federal Police Operational Fund (Funapol)
- 0.4% to the Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development
The allocation highlights the government’s strategy for using wagering revenue not only to shore up the budget but also to fund critical areas of social, educational, and public safety policy expenditure.
Economic and Fiscal Impact
Claudemir Malaquias, head of the Center for Tax and Customs Studies at Federal Revenue, emphasized that collections on betting are “unusual” compared to the usual flow of tax collections. Yet the segment contributed to the better performance of broader taxes such as PIS/Pasep and Cofins, which cumulatively accumulated BRL 333 billion in the first seven months of 2025, a real growth rate of 4.64%.
Malaquias went further to say that with the judicial portioning re-amendment, boosted by 50% by Provisional Measure 1303/25, the impact of higher betting levies will be more pronounced from November and December.
The expansion of betting tax revenues is indicative of the mounting importance of the controlled game market to the finances of Brazil. With the government unleashing a future increase in tax rates and intensified control by the Secretariat of Bets and Prizes of the Ministry of Finance, the market will further expand its contribution to the federal budget.
Through channelling funds into sport, education, public safety, and social programs, the government seeks to balance public gains against fiscal gains. The direction of gambling taxation in 2025 reflects not only the vast new federal source of funds but also the broader institutionalization of an increasingly central market within Brazilian economic policy.
Source: BNL Data
