Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
7 min of reading 
0 comments 
Senate Committee Approves, by 21 Votes to 1, Package That Tightens Bets and Fintechs, Raises Online Betting Tax from 12% to 18%, Increases CSLL for Fintechs and Payment Institutions, Raises IR on JCP and Creates Transition Until 2028 to Strengthen Federal Revenue and Fiscal Balance.
The Senate Economic Affairs Committee approved, by 21 votes to 1, a tax increase package that tightens bets and fintechs and strengthens taxation on the financial system. The project phases in an increase in the burden on online sports betting, raises the CSLL for digital companies, and adjusts the Income Tax on Interest on Own Capital to enhance revenue starting in 2026.
The government aims for a billion-dollar revenue in the coming years to help close the gap in public accounts and compensate for losses of states and municipalities with the expansion of the income tax exemption threshold for individuals. The text still needs to go through the Chamber of Deputies and be sanctioned by the president, and it could go to the Senate floor if a request is made within the stipulated time.
How the Package Tightens Bets and Fintechs and Changes the Government Strategy
The package approved by CAE recovers part of a provisional measure that had been sent by the government to replace the IOF increase and strengthen the treasury, but which lost validity after the Chamber refused to vote on the text.
-
Mercado Livre “opens the vault” and announces a record investment of R$ 57 billion in Brazil in 2026, a value 50% higher than the previous year, with an expansion plan that includes 14 new logistics centers, totaling 42 units in the country and hiring an additional 10,000 employees.
-
How investment in technology can revolutionize the national economy and enhance industrial gains, according to a study that highlights the direct impact on productivity, innovation, and wealth retention within Brazil.
-
The largest food company on the planet, JBS, has just opened a 4,000 square meter laboratory in Florianópolis to develop customized proteins that modulate muscle mass gain, immune response, and metabolic performance.
-
After nearly 30 bids and competition among industry giants, a Spanish company purchases one of the largest airports in Brazil for almost R$ 3 billion and takes over the management of Galeão in a concession that will last until 2039.
Now, the strategy is to concentrate tax collection efforts on bets and fintechs and other segments of the financial system, instead of raising the IOF again.
Senators Eduardo Braga, rapporteur, and Renan Calheiros, project author, estimated that the original set of measures could yield almost 5 billion reais in 1 year.
This estimate, however, was made before changes that reduced the intended rate for bets and included the increase in IR on JCP. With the new configuration, there is no updated official estimate, making the market and investor reaction even more cautious.
Phased Increase of the Tax on Online Betting Up to 18%
The central axis of the package is the increase in taxation on online sports betting houses, the bets. Today, the total tax rate on companies’ revenue is 12%, calculated on the amount collected from games, minus prizes paid to bettors and Income Tax on the prize.
According to the project, this rate will reach 18% by 2028, but with a transition period. Between 2026 and 2027, the rate will rise to 15%, and only then, in 2028, will it reach the final level of 18%.
In the first version of his report, Braga advocated doubling the burden from 12% to 24%, but backed down for fear of jeopardizing or weakening already legalized companies.
Brazil is already the fifth largest sports betting market in the world, which helps explain the government’s focus on increasing the contribution from this sector. Until 2028, part of the extra revenue will be used to compensate for losses of states and municipalities with the expansion of the income tax exemption threshold for individuals. Starting in 2029, the additional 6 percentage points of the bets’ rate will be directed to social security.
Furthermore, the package does not just increase taxes. It creates specific mechanisms to combat illegal bets, which operate without authorization from the Ministry of Finance.
There will be an accelerated process to shut down illegal sites, and financial and payment institutions will have to monitor transactions from these operators, share information, and act upon indications of fraud. Those who do not comply with these obligations may face fines and even temporary suspension of operations.
Higher Taxation on Fintechs, Banks, and Other Financial Institutions
Another relevant front of the package is the increase in CSLL on fintechs and other financial sector companies. Today, fintechs pay 9% of CSLL.
The project approved in the CAE foresees that this rate will rise to 12% in 2027 and 15% in 2028, aligning the contribution of these companies with the level previously proposed by the government.
The same level of 15% will be applied to payment institutions, foreign exchange houses, stock exchanges, and other entities of the financial market, uniformly expanding the tax base over the digital and intermediary universe.
Traditional banks will continue to pay the highest CSLL rate of 20%, unchanged. Credit, financing, and investment companies will have a phased increase, with 17.5% in 2027 and 20% starting in 2028.
The idea is to reduce asymmetries within the financial system, but without rolling back the heavier taxation on traditional banking activities.
According to Eduardo Braga, just the block of measures affecting fintechs and other financial institutions could generate around 1.6 billion reais in revenue as early as next year, even before the completion of the transition.
For the government, this result helps justify the focus on bets and fintechs as the main targets of the new round of fiscal adjustment.
JCP, Dividends, and Adjustment in the Income Tax Exemption
The project also changes the taxation of Interest on Own Capital, a mechanism used by publicly traded companies to compensate shareholders’ capital.
Today, the withholding Income Tax on JCP is 15%. With the new rules, the rate rises to 17.5%, effective on the date of payment or credit of the amount to the beneficiary.
Additionally, the text tries to address a technical divergence related to the expansion of the income tax exemption for individuals.
The current legislation guarantees exemption for profits and dividends calculated in 2025 and distributed until 2028, but tied this exemption to an approval of distribution by December 31, 2025, a deadline considered impractical since balance sheets are closed only the following year.
To resolve the conflict, the project approved in CAE now provides that profits and dividends calculated in 2025 and with distribution approved by the end of April 2026 will be exempt.
This way, companies gain time to comply with accounting and corporate rituals, and the government maintains its promise of exemption without creating an indefinite loophole that could undermine future revenue.
Political Tension Between the Senate and the Ministry of Finance
According to the G1 portal, the approval of the package that tightens bets and fintechs was marked by significant tension between the rapporteur and the Ministry of Finance.
During the reading of a new version of the report, Eduardo Braga accused the economic team of breaking agreements regarding the section that dealt precisely with exempt dividends and stated that he was tired and indignant with the ministry’s posture.
According to Braga, government support for the project became conditional on the removal of the rules that pacified the situation of profits and dividends calculated in 2025 and distributed until 2028. This charge was poorly received in the committee and jeopardized the advancement of the proposal.
It was then that the government’s leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner, acted as a political firefighter, empathizing with Braga and suggesting the reinstatement of the sections that the Finance Ministry itself wanted to eliminate. The rapporteur accepted the proposal, and the provisions were reinserted into the text.
After the session, Jaques classified the episode as an embarrassment and said he took the risk of backing this decision without prior consultation with Fernando Haddad’s team.
The result was a momentary victory for the Senate, which managed to approve the package with the rules on dividends retained, but also exposed fractures in the articulation between the economic area and the government’s parliamentary base.
Processing, Deadline for Appeals, and Program for Individuals
Despite the significant approval in the Economic Affairs Committee, the package affecting bets and fintechs still has a way to go.
Since the text was voted only in CAE, it can go directly to the Chamber of Deputies, provided no senator presents an appeal to bring it to the floor. The deadline for this appeal is five business days, counted from the official opening determined by the Senate presidency.
In the Chamber, deputies can propose changes to rates, transition periods, or details of revenue sharing, both for bets and for fintechs, banks, and other financial institutions.
Any changes will subsequently require a new round of analysis in the Senate, before the project reaches the President of the Republic for sanction or partial veto.
The package also includes a tax regularization program for individuals with a monthly income of up to 7,350 reais.
The initiative offers special installment conditions for taxpayers who have debts with the Federal Revenue or the Attorney General’s Office, in an attempt to combine the increase in the tax load in specific sectors with some relief for indebted families.
While the processing continues, bets and fintechs, banks, investors, and individual taxpayers follow the text line by line to understand how much more they will pay in taxes and to what extent they can benefit from transition rules and renegotiation programs.
In your view, is the government right to concentrate new taxes on bets and fintechs and the financial sector to close the gap in public accounts, or does this strategy overreach and potentially stall the digital economy and the betting market in Brazil?
-
Uma pessoa reagiu a isso.