Brazil Online Gambling Bill Close to Becoming a Law

Regulated online gambling could be coming to one of the world’s largest consumer markets if a bill under consideration by Brazilian lawmakers becomes a law.
Late last week, members of the Special Committee on National Development (CEDN) spent a fair amount of time tinkering with SB 186/2014, a bill which would radically alter the gaming landscape of the massive country.
Among the amendment the CEDN tacked on the bill were a host of measures intended to craft a scandal-free online gambling market in a country were public corruption is a massive problem. This includes specific language barring Brazil’s legion of government workers and their families from obtaining gaming licenses.
The CEDN also outlined a framework for taxing online casinos. Under the proposed measures, online casinos would be taxed at 20% of their gross revenue. That’s about twice what brick and mortar casinos currently pay. The idea here is that online gambling operators have lower overhead and can afford the bigger tax hit, according to published reports.
One question that hasn’t been answered, that will have to be answered eventually, is exactly how much an online gambling license will cost in Brazil in the first place. There’s also the tricky business of how many licenses the government will issue (assuming they issue any at all).
What does seem clear is that the Brazilian online gambling market has the potential to be absolutely massive. Brazil’s current population is hovering at around 200 million and it’s believed that regulated gambling could add an additional $4 billion to public coffers every year.
So far, there’s no word on when the bill might advance into law.