Over the past one decade, Brazil has been going through a very serious budget crisis. Every other year, budget deficits have been a thorn in the flesh that has only served to hurt the economy of the country as a whole. Due to these developments, the government of Brazil is now considering a way out of this mess. Among the many options that the government has been considering in recent years, passing gaming legislation with regards to poker has been an outstanding option.
Brazil’s budget crisis might just be the perfect catalyst to a bill that aims to pass and legalize online gaming in the country. It is in the interest of balancing the national budget that the government has been considering the possibility of passing legislation for online gaming regulation in order to aid the country out of this mess. Brazil’s budget that was recently presented by President Dilma Rousseff includes a major $17 billion in terms of spending cuts. With these issues, there is no denying that the budget of the country requires some serious balancing work.
According to one poker industry pro called Jocelyn Wood, the president of Brazil just recently conducted a high level meeting with senior ministers and a range of other leaders in her political coalition with a view of gauging the amount of support that the new legislation might enjoy for it to be passed in the house. The legislation is solely aimed at taxing and regulating the online gaming arena in order to make sure that there are no major imbalances in the national budget in the near future.
These latest developments represent a perfect turnaround from the most recent events whereby the country has been plunged into turmoil mainly by unsustainable budget. In August, the country not only outlawed the playing of online poker in public but the president also came up with a bill that will aim to allow for regulated online sport wagering in the country. This again is an aspect that the members of parliament and senate need to look into in this regard.
Presumably, the idea of whether or not the country ought to pass this online gaming legislation in the country has been a very controversial issue. Those who are supporting the regulation like one Senator Ciro Nogueira pointed out clearly that the prohibition of online poker might not be as effective as many might be made to think. There is a considerable amount of revenue that the country can get from this gaming industry and therefore regulating, rather than eliminating will be the right decision to make.
In that same regard, Senator Noguiera introduced a bill in the month of July 2014 which was proposing that there be taxation of all kinds of gambling. The idea behind this was that it could assist the government in instances of financial crisis. Research shows that if this gaming industry is regulated, it might bring to the country new revenues in excess of R$15 billion per annum.
Additionally, Senator Noguiera also pointed out that there is no prohibitive approach to gambling that was being championed through the said bill. Again, no one will give up playing poker even if it is regulated or forbidden. It is therefore prudent to only make sure that the industry remains regulated so that it can compete fairly with the other major industries in the country.
It is important to note that the current anti-gambling legislation did not in any manner stop gambling in the country. Moreover, the clandestine market, as many people here love to call it is known to move in excess of R$18 billion every other year. Whereas there are many championing for the passing of the online gaming sector in the country, there is also a considerable number, especially in the religious sector that are morally against the whole idea of online gaming and regulating poker altogether.