The Brazil betting ban refund deadline is October 5: under Medida Provisória 1.394/2026, bettors can withdraw balances voluntarily until 23h59 that day, per the SPA’s calendar. Money left behind is not forfeited. Operators must send CPF-keyed balances to their banks, which refund to an active account in the bettor’s own name, with Caixa as fallback.
What does MP 1.394 say about the October 5 refund deadline?
The measure was signed in Brasília on 25 September 2026 and, per its Art. 30, took effect on publication. It ends fixed-odds betting by the “bets”, the legal shorthand for operators authorized under Lei 14.790/2023, and from that day no new money may enter their transactional accounts. Art. 7 gives operators ten days from publication before sites and apps, app-store listings included, must go dark.
This desk read the Planalto text of the MP, the Secretaria de Prêmios e Apostas (SPA) calendar published by the Ministério da Fazenda on 2 October, and Agência Senado’s summary on 3 October 2026. The dates below are the regulator’s; the article numbers are the MP’s.
| Date (SPA calendar) | What happens to a bettor’s money | MP 1.394 |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Sept | Published; no new deposits | Art. 7 §1, Art. 30 |
| Until 23h59, 5 Oct | Voluntary withdrawal on the site or app | Art. 7 |
| From 6 Oct | Sites and apps unavailable | Art. 7 |
| 6-7 Oct | Operators tell banks each remaining balance by CPF, plus the origin account | Art. 8 |
| 9-14 Oct | Banks refund to an own-name account | Art. 9 |
| From 14 Oct | Caixa intermediates where banks cannot pay | Art. 9 §3 |
| 25 Oct | Authorizations under Lei 14.790 end | Art. 4 |
Why do the dates differ between sources?
Art. 7 counts ten days from 25 September, and the SPA reads 5 October as the last day of access: withdrawals until 23h59, unavailability from 6 October. A source saying sites close “by 5 October” and one saying “from 6 October” describe the same midnight.
The hand-off is a genuine discrepancy. Agência Senado’s 28 September timeline gives 7 and 8 October; the SPA’s later calendar gives 6 and 7 October. Art. 8 itself says only “no prazo de dois dias” after take-down. This post follows the regulator.
What happens to my bet balance after Brazil’s betting ban?
It is owed back to you. If you do not withdraw by 23h59 on 5 October, Art. 8 of MP 1.394/2026 makes the operator send its bank a list of remaining balances by CPF, with the account the money came from, within two days of going offline. The bank then refunds it. The operator cannot keep it, and Art. 8 fines a lapse at R$200,000 a day.
What happens to bets that are still open on October 5?
Per Art. 7 §2, a bet whose result has not been settled by the end of the ten-day window is void, and the full stake comes back with deductions of any kind barred. Per §3, a bet settled inside the window pays its prize normally. Either way the money joins the balance that is withdrawn or refunded.
When will banks refund betting balances in Brazil?
Per the SPA’s calendar, published on 2 October 2026, banks and payment institutions return balances between 9 and 14 October. The legal clock is Art. 9: seven days counted from the day the bank receives the operator’s CPF-keyed list. Where a bank cannot pay, Caixa Econômica Federal acts as intermediary from 14 October.
Which account does the refund go to?
Art. 9 requires a transfer to an active deposit or payment account held by the bettor and identified by CPF. §1 makes the origin account the preferred destination, provided it is still active and in the bettor’s name, and allows another account the bettor holds. It is the same own-name principle that already governed withdrawals to a Pix key. The MP articles read here do not say how a bettor nominates that other account, and the SPA calendar this desk read describes no procedure. The practical reading: keep the account you deposited from open.
Sums the banks cannot return go to a specific account at Caixa Econômica Federal, for restitution to their owners under Finance Ministry supervision. Nothing in the text read sets an end date for that stage.
Does the betting ban in Brazil need approval by Congress?
Yes, to last. A medida provisória takes effect on publication, and Art. 30 of MP 1.394 says so, but per Agência Senado it began its passage in the Congresso Nacional on 28 September and must be considered within 120 days to become law definitively. Until then it is in force as a provisional measure, refund deadlines included.
What a bettor should do before 23h59 on 5 October
Request the withdrawal now, on the operator’s own site or app, and keep a dated record of the balance and any open bets. Nothing in the articles read here suspends ordinary withdrawal rules before the doors close; our note on how long a bet has to pay a withdrawal covers them. This is not the single-operator suspension this site described in what happens to your money when a bet is suspended: it is the whole market, on a statutory clock, and no operator may take a deposit.
Nothing here is a reason to bet again before the window shuts. The point is to get a balance home. 18+; jogue com responsabilidade.