Brazil sets tax record, driven by regulated online gaming
Brazil's tax revenue reached unprecedented levels in 2025, and the regulated market for online betting and digital games consolidated as one of the main factors behind this result. According to official figures from the Federal Revenue Service, the formalization of the sector at the beginning of this year had a direct and significant impact on public revenues.
Between January and November 2025, taxes linked to sports betting and online gaming rose from just R$62 million collected in 2024 to R$8.82 billion in the same period of 2025. The jump, exceeding 14,000 percent, explains a large part of the 2.79 percent growth recorded in PIS/Cofins revenue, which totaled R$528.85 billion.
This performance also contributed to November closing as the best month in history in terms of federal revenue, with income of R$226.75 billion, representing a real increase of 3.75 percent compared to November 2024. In the accumulated total of the first eleven months of the year, revenue reached R$2.59 trillion, another historic high, with a real year-on-year expansion of 3.25 percent.
The tax authority clarified that the comparative figures are influenced by extraordinary events that occurred last year, such as the one-time collection of R$13 billion for the Withholding Income Tax (IRRF) on exclusive funds. According to the agency, if these atypical revenues are excluded, the real growth in revenue between January and November 2025 would have been even higher, reaching 4.51 percent.
The official report also highlighted the good performance of the services sector, the increase in the wage bill, and the strong expansion of the Tax on Financial Transactions (IOF), which grew by 19.88 percent. In contrast, signs of lower dynamism were observed in the collection of IRPJ/CSLL, with an increase of 1.44 percent, and IPI, which rose by just 0.57 percent, reflecting a stagnation scenario in industrial activity.
Regulation on hold and upcoming challenges
The strong fiscal impact generated by the regulation of online betting opens the door to potential additional growth in the coming years, especially if Brazil advances with the regulation of land-based casinos. However, this process faces political obstacles.
On Wednesday the 17th, the Federal Senate rejected by 36 votes to 28 the request for urgent processing of Bill No. 2,234/2022, which proposes to authorize casinos, bingo halls, and horse racing bets, as well as regulate the traditional jogo do bicho. The decision postpones, at least for now, an expansion of the regulatory framework that could further strengthen revenue and formalization of the gaming sector in the country.
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