Tax | Companies Doing Business in Brazil Should Pay Attention to the New Import Tax Rates

Import Tax rates in Brazil were reduced for various consumer and production products.

The rates of wheat flour, mixture of wheat and rye, corn in grain, frozen boneless beef meat, among other products, were zeroed. The rates of inputs for agricultural production, such as sulfuric acid, were also zeroed. Finally, the rate for steel rebars was substantially reduced to 4%. 

The reduced rates have a fixed deadline – December 31, 2022 – when the previous increased rates will be reinstated. 

The very important point of attention is precisely the moment of incidence of this rate. On importation, the moment of incidence of the tax is at Customs Clearance. That is, a moment much later than (i) the import contract, (ii) payment, (iii) transport, for example.

In the past, exactly this situation occurred, in which several companies contracted the importation of goods, made the payment, and contracted the transport, all considering a reduced rate. It so happens that, due to the delay in logistics, the ships were delayed, and the loads arrived in Brazil weeks after the deadline, and the customs clearance was already carried out with the increased rates.

The position of the jurisprudence is objectionable, but it condemned companies to pay the highest tax. Because of this, at this time of dysfunction in global logistics chains, importers must carefully plan to avoid or mitigate the impacts of future import tax increases.

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