Brazil’s Economic Affairs Commission (CAE) has cancelled today’s scheduled vote on the bill that would raise taxes on fixed betting licences and fintech services. 

Scheduled on 18 November the voting session was pulled by committee president Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), with his office confirming the decision to SBC Notícias Brasil with the statement that “no formal justification has yet been provided.”

Senators were due to vote on PL 5,473/2025, the bill which seeks to double the federal share of net income from fixed-odds betting from 12% to 24%, while also introducing changes to Social Contribution % (CSLL rates) for fintechs and establish the new Pert-Baixa Renda – new tax settlement programme for fintech services and enterprises. 

Today’s cancellation marks the second consecutive delay of the vote. The first delay was in mid October as the Committee deemed a lack of senators present to vote on a budget matter. A further postponement followed at the end of October when the committee was asked to provide additional clarification on the tax implications for fintech companies, particularly the specific CSLL framework that would interact with the revised betting levy.

PL 5,473/2025 is a matter of high importance as the final fiscal measure President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Finance Minister Fernando Haddad need to sign-off on the 2026 Budget of the PT government.

As reported by SBC Notícias Brasil, the PT government is pressing ahead with its “billionaires, banks and bets” agenda — an effort to raise R$35bn (€6.2bn) next year by increasing the tax burden on online gambling operators in the ‘Bets’ regulatory regime, high-income earners and the financial sector.

Senator Randolfe Rodrigues, the government’s leader in Congress, has confirmed that the betting-tax reform previously lost with the expiry of MP 1303/2025 will be reintroduced in the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO). 

However, resistance inside Congress continues to grow. The Joint Budget Committee has twice delayed the LDO vote, warning that lawmakers are reaching their limit with new tax demands and urging the government to shift focus from collection to structural reform.

The political pressure reflects the fallout from last month’s collapse of the government’s proposal to raise GGR from 12% to 18% (the PT government’s original scheme), which disintegrated after the surprise addition of the “Litígio Zero Bets” clause of “retrospective taxes”.  The demand shocked PT allies and fuelled scepticism over the administration’s fiscal coordination of the Budget 2026. 

Both Lula and Haddad view betting taxation as essential to closing the 2026 fiscal gap without undermining social spending commitments. Their challenge now is navigating a fractious Congress with limited patience for further tax rises.

SBC Notícias Brasil is monitoring developments and awaits confirmation of the committee’s next steps and whether any further voting arrangement will proceed.