Brazilian Federal Revenue Service regulates income tax on betting commissions with new normative instruction.

The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service has regulated the collection of Income Tax from sports betting platforms, known as bets. Normative Instruction 2.331/2026, published in the Official Gazette on July 1st, establishes the rules for withholding income tax at source on commissions, brokerage fees, and other remuneration paid by these companies. For individual bettors, nothing changes.

The measure is limited to business-to-business relationships. The rule maintains the existing principle that the company paying the commission is responsible for withholding the tax, at a rate of 1,5%. The main novelty is the creation of an optional "self-withholding" system, whereby the digital platforms themselves anticipate the collection, relieving the contracting companies from having to do so.

To adopt the new model, the platform must formalize its choice through the EFD-Reinf (Digital Tax Bookkeeping of Withholdings and Other Tax Information), once a year. Adherence is irreversible during the period and requires notification to companies using the service.

The regulation emerged from discussions held in the Receita Soluciona program. According to the tax authorities, there was a need to "standardize and adapt the tax procedures applicable to new business models developed in digital environments."

Definition of a digital platform

The normative instruction also establishes the concept of a digital platform based on Complementary Law No. 214/2025. This includes "legal entities that act as intermediaries in operations carried out by electronic means and that control essential elements of the transaction, such as collection, payment, definition of the conditions of the operation or delivery." Companies that only provide internet access, offer payment services, advertise, or act as supplier comparison sites are excluded from this definition.

Tax lawyer Ronaldo Martins, from RMA Ronaldo Martins Advogados, confirms the restricted scope of the regulation. According to him, the rule deals exclusively with commissions and remuneration paid between legal entities for the intermediation of business transactions. "The taxation of bonuses paid to individuals has a completely different legal nature and basis, and is not covered by this regulation," he states.

Income tax on betting for individuals.

Bettors who win on fixed-odds betting platforms and in virtual competitions (fantasy sports) remain subject to the rules of Law 14.790/2023 and Normative Instruction 2.299/2025. The tax is levied on the net annual prize, calculated by the difference between the total received and the amount wagered during the period.

Taxation, at a rate of 15%, applies only to earnings exceeding the annual exemption limit of R$ 28.467,20. To prove the results to the Federal Revenue Service, the taxpayer must use ComprovaBet, a document provided by the platforms summarizing the operations carried out in the previous year.

When there is tax to pay, the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service allows payment of the debt in installments of up to 60 times, with minimum installments of R$ 200. Even when part of the winnings has already been subject to withholding tax, all results reported in the Revenue Service application will be added together for a new calculation of the tax due; any amount already collected will be deducted at the end. These rules apply exclusively to bets placed on authorized platforms in Brazil.