São Paulo The Ministry of Finance is investigating 14 betting sites, known as bets, for understated revenue declarations and other practices that compromise government revenue through taxes and social allocation.
According to two servers interviewed under reserve, one of the cases investigated is that of the Blaze platform, already publicized by Neymar Jr. and influencer Virgínia Fonseca. In this case, the loss could reach R$96.1 million — the platform says it complies with the rules and is available to the authorities for clarification.
Last month, an MP (provisional measure) from the Lula government banned bets from operating in the country. The veto, which is valid for 120 days, must be ratified by Congress or it will become invalid. There are negotiations in the Legislature to find a compromise to a total ban.
In a statement, Blaze deducted more than R$477 million from a turnover of R$1.9 billion with declarations of withdrawable bonuses — amounts that the bookmaker can offer in promotions for registered players. Bet can deduct this amount from gross revenue as long as the player can withdraw whenever they want, according to the Treasury's technical note published in January 2025.
Blaze's own pages show that the company requires a series of conditions for the player to be able to make withdrawals. "Each activated promotion requires the money awarded to be used in a minimum number of bets — generally proportional to the benefit and around 35 times greater. When this goal is reached, it can also be withdrawn", says a post on the company's website from May last year that remained available until the platform went offline on the 6th.
bet adds that "this is because the rules for using rewards are different to the terms for real money." Four betting sector executives interviewed by the report on condition of anonymity say that these amounts could not be considered "withdrawable bonuses". Blaze did not report spending on rewards programs in the operating costs section.
The Treasury's technical note indicates that non-financial rewards, that is, promotional values that can only be used within the platform, such as a discount coupon, must be accounted for as marketing costs. Therefore, these amounts could not be deducted from revenue and should be subject to taxation and fees.
In a statement, Foggo Entertainment, which owns the rights to the Blaze brand in Brazil, says that it calculates its gross revenue in accordance with current regulations and the guidelines issued by the competent authorities.
"Foggo Entertainment does not comment on specific figures in its financial statements outside its own corporate channels and deadlines and remains at the disposal of the competent authorities for any clarifications that may be necessary."
By declaring the entire payment of R$477 million in promotional values, the company reduced its declared revenue from R$1,903,187,065.35 to R$1,425,892,218.93. The betting law determines a social allocation of 12% of gross revenue, which may have been underestimated by R$57 million after the discount.
Another company investigated is RR Participações, controller of MultiBet and Ricobet, owned by Ricardo Rezende Soares de Oliveira, a Minas Gerais businessman in the lottery sector and the sale of capitalization bonds. When contacted by email and message on LinkedIn since 6pm on Thursday (8), RR Participações did not respond. The company's brands are less popular and have lower revenue — the report was unable to estimate the losses.
The SPA (Prizes and Betting Secretariat) says that it regulates and monitors compliance with the legislation applicable to the betting sector. "If signs of non-compliance with regulatory requirements are identified, the appropriate administrative measures will be adopted", says the regulator. The regime that allows fines of up to R$2 billion remains valid even after Lula's veto.
In the response to the request via the Access to Information Law sent to Folha, the SPA says that it restricts the disclosure of information related to processes, documents and information that arise from ongoing inspections. The information would be kept confidential due to the risk of compromising intelligence activities related to the prevention or repression of infractions.
According to a technical note from the Federal Revenue, the calculation basis for federal taxes, such as PIS and Cofins, must be gross revenue, deducted from the social allocation of 12%, which is considered Union money from the beginning. The incorrect declaration of promotional values would generate a reduction of R$31.9 million in Cofins and R$6.9 million in PIS. When contacted, the Revenue stated that it does not comment on individual cases.
According to lawyers specializing in the betting sector interviewed by the report under reservation, the under-declaration of gross revenue by Blaze also underestimated fines that the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets imposed on the company, since revenue serves as a reference for calculating the value of the financial punishment.
For George Valença, professor of computer science at UFRPE (Federal Rural University of Pernambuco), whose research focuses on manipulative marketing patterns, the so-called "dark patterns", the tactic would still have a harmful incentive. "The betting site receives financial gains to carry out an aggressive marketing tactic."
"By offering economic incentives to bettors, the company wants to keep them playing with the aim of earning more money," said Valença. "This behavioral incentive is not clear when offering the reward."
Undue competitive advantage is one of the arguments cited in the 14 administrative sanctioning proceedings opened by the government against bets.
According to the Prizes and Betting Secretariat, there is still an ongoing administrative process against an unidentified operator, motivated by the restriction on the withdrawal of amounts deposited in bettors' graphic accounts. The case is in the analysis phase for judgment, with no decision issued in the first instance.
