Analysis: Operations show that Pix fake news helped organized crime

More than the political turmoil, the crisis generated by fake news surrounding Pix earlier this year was lamented by the economic sector due to the damage it caused to the control of fintech operations. The Carbono Oculto and Tank operations, carried out on Thursday morning (28), show that these institutions were used by organized crime to “launder” funds of illicit origin.

In September of last year, the Federal Revenue Service issued Instruction Normative (IN) 2219/24, which aimed to update the list of payment methods whose transactions must be reported to the Revenue Service. It was basically an update to the old rule to include fintechs under the same regulations followed by banks.

Months after it was issued, this change was engulfed by a wave of fake news, in which the Instruction Normative was repackaged as an attempt to tax Pix and to break the confidentiality of small businesses. It was nothing like that, but the government could not withstand the political pressure and revoked the norm, contrary to the opinion of the economic sector.

In addition, in January, it issued a Provisional Measure (MP) that basically prohibited commercial establishments from charging an additional fee for sales made by Pix (although the opposite is more common in commerce) and ensured that there would be no taxation of this payment method. The MP was not voted on, expired in June, and is not missed.

The IN, on the other hand, does, as shown in the statement released today by the Revenue Service. The agency states that the use of fintechs by organized crime takes advantage of “loopholes” in the legislation. One of them, it states, is “the non-obligation to provide information to the Federal Revenue Service about customers’ financial transactions through e-Financeira.” The agency adds that the Revenue had made regulatory changes to “reduce the opacity of payment institutions, changes that were revoked in early 2025 after a wave of fake news on the subject.”

Today’s operations are expected to increase pressure on the National Congress, which is sitting on three bills that seek to define what a habitual debtor is and establish punishments.