Financial sector wants remuneration for “split payment”

The mechanism of split payment proposed by the tax reform is the target of demands from the financial sector. Associations that bring together payment companies are in favor of the system, but are asking for modifications and additions to the text approved by the Chamber of Deputies and currently being processed by the Senate.

Among the demands is the remuneration of these companies for operating the mechanism and compensation for the costs of developing the system.

THE split payment will allow the taxes from the reform to be collected when the amount is sent to the intermediary financial institution. It will be up to the intermediary financial institution to separate the amount corresponding to the tax and send it to the public coffers of the national entities. The main objective of the proposal is to reduce loopholes for possible fraud or tax evasion.

“The private sector will have to invest hundreds of millions of reais for this to happen. We want there to be a legal provision. We don’t want to set a price or put a knife to anyone’s throat.”says the executive vice president of Abecs (Brazilian Association of Credit Card and Services Companies), Ricardo Vieira.

The demand, he adds, is for a forecast so that development and maintenance costs are reimbursed. “It’s like a contract for the provision of collection services”it says.

The executive states that tax collection is “a problem” of the Tax Authorities with taxpayers and that the financial sector will “assistant” in this process.”The payment industry has nothing to do with this. […] We are being ‘called’ to make a gigantic effort to assist in this process.”.

The request is corroborated by Zettaan association that represents financial and payment institutions. Executive director Fernanda Garibaldi points out that this is a system that the government is proposing and sees it as legitimate that the sector be compensated for developing and operating it.

PLP 68/2024, approved by the Chamber, establishes that the Executive Branch and the IBS (Tax on Goods and Services) Management Committee must approve the budget for the development, operation and maintenance of the system, but does not provide further details on how this will be done.

CIVIL LIABILITY

Another demand from the financial sector is that operators should not be held civilly liable in cases of errors by the tax authorities in calculating tax rates. The approved text only deals with tax liability.

“Payment service providers will not be liable for tax on IBS and CBS levied on transactions involving goods and services for which they settle payments”the document states.

IMPOSSIBLE SCHEDULE

The current design of the reform foresees 3 categories of split paymentthe main one is the intelligent system. The model is automatic. It only collects the difference between the value that will be applied to the operation and the tax that has already been paid through compensation of supplier credits.

The payment method will consult the Federal Revenue Service and IBS Management Committee system to access the data required for the calculation.

Associations representing payment method companies state that there are uncertainties surrounding this model and argue that the adoption of the simple system should be prioritized. split payment The current text provides for a simple system, but only in exceptional situations. One of the advantages of the model for associations is that similar systems already exist in other countries – such as the Czech Republic, Italy and Poland.

“[No split payment inteligente] you have a kind of compensation of these tax credits and debits online, in real time. […] It is much more difficult to do than a regime where there is a fixed rate for a period of time for a CNPJ”says Garibaldi. “Zetta’s request is that we have a simplified regime as a general rule and the super intelligent one as an option”.

Viera, from Abecs, says that it is “strictly impossible” develop and put into practice the split smart in 2026, the currently predicted schedule, or even in the years immediately following.

“[No Brasil] we have an average of 5 thousand card transactions per second. On Mother’s Day, Christmas and holidays this number triples. Imagine inserting into this world a system with a query to a Revenue agency in which this system has not even begun to be thought of, let alone designed and programmed”he says.

For the executive, however, it is reasonable to work with the idea of ​​a simplified system initially and ensure in the standard the forecast of an evolution as the technical conditions are built.

GT DO SPLIT PAYMENT

In an interview with the digital newspaper Poder360the extraordinary secretary for tax reform, Bernard Appy, stated that the Ministry of Finance intended to create a working group on the split payment in August.

The group has not yet been formalized. The Treasury stated, however, through a note sent, that this formalization will be done “in the next few days”.

Regarding the demands of the financial sector, the ministry said that “does not take a position on sectoral demands, but understands the importance of legal certainty and rational sequencing in the implementation of “split payment”.