Brazil: Chamber approves urgency to increase betting taxation and allocate funds to public health

The proposal seeks to raise the tax rate on online betting — from 12% to 24% — and direct the additional revenue toward public health policies and gambling addiction prevention, addressing the growing issue of ludopathy, which already affects millions of Brazilians.

Betting and public health

According to the bill, Brazil is already the third country in the world with the highest number of bettors, with 24 million people transferring money to betting websites and around 2 million showing signs of gambling addiction.
The initiative aims to increase the sector’s tax burden while framing gambling addiction as a public health issue.

PT leader Lindbergh Farias defended the proposal from a social standpoint:

“Everyone here knows someone in their family who’s addicted. The impact is enormous. Betting taxation in Brazil is very low, at 12%, while countries like the United States and France charge more than 30%. We need to move forward and treat this as a social and public health issue.”

Broad political support and urgency

During the CFT meeting, Deputy Rogério Correia highlighted the strong cross-party backing for the measure:

“We gathered 34 signatures from 12 different parties. That shows the strength of this debate. A survey shows that three out of ten residents in Minas Gerais have delayed their rent payments because of bets. It’s a dramatic situation, and that’s why we need to approve this bill urgently,” he stated.

Federal Deputy Ana Pimentel (PT-MG), a public health physician, emphasized the seriousness of the problem and the need for a rapid parliamentary response:

"It’s estimated that more than 3.5 million Brazilians already show signs of gambling addiction. This is an epidemic. Bets are draining household incomes, especially among poorer families. It’s a reverse income transfer — from the poor to the rich. We need to increase taxation and allocate resources to public health,” she said.

Next steps

With the urgency request approved, Bill 5.076/2025 will move directly to the Chamber of Deputies’ floor for a priority vote.

The topic is expected to return to the center of debate in the coming weeks, amid discussions on the taxation of Brazil’s betting sector and the social impacts of online gambling.