Tax on Betting Winnings in Brazil — What Law 14.790 and the 2026 Receita Federal Table Actually Say

Every list of “how much tax you pay on bets in Brazil” we found repeats a number without saying where it comes from. This article does the opposite: we read the official text of Lei nº 14.790/2023 on the Planalto site and the 2026 tax tables published by Receita Federal, cite the articles, and mark clearly where the law stops answering.

The rule, in the law’s own words

Art. 31 of Lei nº 14.790/2023 has four parts that matter. The Portuguese is quoted; the English follows.

Rate and base. “Os prêmios líquidos obtidos em apostas na loteria de apostas de quota fixa serão tributados pelo Imposto sobre a Renda das Pessoas Físicas (IRPF) à alíquota de 15%.” — Net prizes from fixed-odds betting are taxed under personal income tax at 15%. (caput)

What a net prize is. “Considera-se prêmio líquido o resultado positivo auferido nas apostas de quota fixa realizadas a cada ano, após a dedução das perdas incorridas com apostas da mesma natureza.” — The positive result of the year’s fixed-odds bets after deducting losses of the same nature. (§1)

From what amount. “O imposto … incidirá sobre os prêmios líquidos que excederem o valor da primeira faixa da tabela progressiva anual do IRPF.” — The tax applies to net prizes exceeding the first band of the annual progressive table. (§2)

When. ”… será apurado anualmente e pago até o último dia útil do mês subsequente ao da apuração.” — Assessed annually, paid by the last business day of the month after assessment. (§3) And §4 extends all of it to fantasy sports.

One piece of legislative history changes the reading: §§1, 2 and 3 appear in the official text first as “(VETADO)” and immediately below with the current wording and the note “Promulgação partes vetadas”. The President vetoed the loss deduction, the exemption band and the annual assessment; Congress overrode the veto; all three paragraphs are in force. Anyone who reads only the first version of each paragraph concludes, wrongly, that losses cannot be deducted.

The number the law points at: the first annual band

§2 does not say “R$ X”. It says “the value of the first band of the annual progressive IRPF table” — a figure Receita Federal publishes and updates. On its Tributação de 2026 page, updated 27 April 2026, the annual incidence table “from tax year 2027 (calendar year 2026)” begins:

Annual base	Rate
Up to R$ 29,145.60	exempt
R$ 29,145.61 to R$ 33,919.80	7.5%

The first band is therefore R$ 29,145.60 for calendar year 2026. The same page confirms the betting regime under “Other income”, as a line of its own:

Rate	Type
30%	cash prizes and sweepstakes
20%	prizes and sweepstakes in goods and services
15%	net prizes from fixed-odds betting under art. 31 of Lei nº 14.790/2023

The contrast is worth underlining: a cash lottery or sweepstake prize is taxed at 30% on the prize amount. Fixed-odds betting is 15% on the year’s net. Two distinct regimes in one table.

A worked example, on the literal reading

A bettor, in 2026, at authorised operators:

• gross winnings in the year: R$ 50,000
• losses in the year, on bets of the same kind: R$ 15,000
• net prize (§1): R$ 35,000
• first annual band (Receita, 2026): R$ 29,145.60
• portion above the band: R$ 35,000 − R$ 29,145.60 = R$ 5,854.40
• tax at 15% on the excess: R$ 878.16

Had the same bettor lost R$ 25,000 instead of R$ 15,000, the net would be R$ 25,000, below the band, and the tax would be zero. That is why the loss deduction — the paragraph that was vetoed and then promulgated — is the part of the rule that weighs most.

Where the law stops answering

This is where most articles invent. We do not.

1. On the excess, or on the whole? §2 says the tax applies “to net prizes that exceed the value of the first band”. The most direct grammatical reading is: to the excess portion, as in the example above. An alternative reading — that once the band is passed the 15% falls on the entire net prize — is not absurd, and the law does not expressly exclude it. We found no Receita act settling the point in the sources we read. Grade: unverified. If the difference matters to you, that is a question for an accountant, not a betting site.

2. Does the 2026 relief under Law 15.270/2025 apply? Since January 2026 there is a “reduction table” that zeroes the tax on taxable income up to R$ 5,000 a month (R$ 60,000 a year) and tapers it to nothing at R$ 7,350. Receita’s page defines it for “taxable income subject to annual adjustment”. Art. 31 references the first band of the progressive table, which Law 15.270 did not change — the annual table still starts at R$ 29,145.60; the reduction is a discount applied afterwards. Whether that discount reaches the separate 15% betting regime, neither source says. Grade: unverified.

3. Who assesses, and how it is paid. The law speaks of annual assessment and payment the following month. It describes no withholding by the operator, and a single operator cannot know the net result of someone who bets at several. The literal reading places the obligation on the bettor. The operational procedure — revenue code, declaration field — is in neither the law’s text nor the tables page. Grade: unverified.

What else the same chapter says about your money

Three articles next to art. 31 affect bettors directly and rarely appear in the lists.

Payment only to your own account (art. 30). Prizes are paid “exclusively by transfer, credit or remittance to bank or payment accounts held by the respective bettors” at institutions authorised by the Central Bank. The account is given at registration. A “bet” that pays to a third party’s account, or in crypto to an unnamed wallet, is outside what the law permits — and that is a signal, before any seal, that it is not on the SPA register.

Unclaimed prizes lapse after 90 days (art. 32). The bettor “loses the right to receive the prize” if it is not credited to the account and not claimed within 90 days of the result being published. The amount goes 50% to the student finance fund (Fies) and 50% to the civil-defence fund (Funcap).

Advertising (arts. 16 and 17). Operators’ communications follow Ministry of Finance regulation, advertising without an age-rating notice is prohibited, and children and adolescents may not be a target audience. This is the chapter that, together with Portaria SPA/MF 1.231/2024, forbids any affiliate link or code from pointing at an operator outside the register — and it is the rule this site follows: we link only operators on the register, verified in the checker.

And on the operator’s side?

To complete the picture: Law 14.790 also amended art. 30 of Lei nº 13.756/2018 to split the proceeds, after prizes and the income tax on them are paid, into 88% for the operator’s costs and 12% for public purposes — education, public security, sport and others, in percentages fixed by the law. That is the figure usually quoted as “operators pay 12%”; it is levied on revenue net of prizes, not on your winnings, and has nothing to do with the bettor’s 15%.

How we use this

Every number on this page has a source you can open: the law’s text on Planalto and Receita’s tables page, both read on 20 September 2026. If Receita publishes guidance resolving the three “unverified” points above, we will update the page with the date. If you find an error, tell us — we correct on the page, dated.

18+ only. Gambling involves real financial risk; the tax exists only for people who finish the year ahead, and most do not. If it stops being entertainment, please seek help — our responsible gambling page lists services.