Brazil’s federal tax receipts from licensed betting reached BRL5.89 billion ($1.18 billion) in the first five months of 2026, up 85.88% from BRL3.169 billion ($634 million) in the same period of 2025, according to the Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal).
The data covers the amount directed to public coffers between January and May. Tax auditors Claudemir Malaquias and Marcelo Gomide presented the figures at an event attended by Revenue Secretary Robinson Barreirinhas.
The five-month total already equals about 60% of what Brazil collected across all of 2025, when betting generated BRL9.95 billion ($1.99 billion) in tax. If the current monthly average holds, receipts would close 2026 above BRL14 billion ($2.8 billion), more than double the previous year.
The jump comes in the second full year of Brazil’s regulated fixed-odds betting market, which opened to licensed operators on 1 January 2025. The country recorded roughly $7 billion in gross gaming revenue in that first regulated year, and the 2026 tax figures point to continued growth in wagering volumes rather than a one-off spike.
World Cup lifts wagering volumes
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, which began on 11 June, has added to activity in June and July. Between the tournament’s opening and 25 June, bettors transferred nearly BRL510 million ($102 million) to gaming platforms, according to data intelligence company Klavi.
Klavi said more than BRL25 million ($5 million) changed hands during Brazil’s match against Scotland on 24 June alone, a 35% increase over the daily average recorded before the tournament started.
The company’s analysis found the average transaction value rose from about BRL185 to BRL235 ($37 to $47), an increase of 24%. Klavi based the study on transfers made by 1.2 million individuals to 187 sites licensed in Brazil.
Growth runs against political pushback
The rising tax take lands as parts of Brazil’s government continue to question the sector. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called for a ban on online betting platforms, and members of his own Workers’ Party tabled a bill to prohibit fixed-odds betting earlier this year.
That tension puts the Revenue Service data at the centre of a wider argument. For the treasury, betting has become a fast-growing source of revenue that is now on track to roughly double year on year. For critics inside the government, the same growth in wagering volumes, amplified by the World Cup, is evidence of a market expanding faster than consumer protection rules can keep pace.
Whether the run rate holds will depend on how much of the World Cup surge carries into the second half of 2026, and on whether any of the restriction proposals gain traction in Congress. The next monthly collection figures from the Federal Revenue Service will show how durable the tournament effect proves to be.
Source: Federal Revenue Service
