Secretary signals that changes will lead to taxation of e-commerce from abroad, such as Shein, Shopee and AliExpress
The Special Secretary for Tax Reform, bernard appy, said that the change in tax collection will facilitate the taxation of all purchases made on websites abroad. There is exemption for products of up to US$ 50 received in Brazil by individuals.
“[A reforma tributária] allows you to tax all international purchases. By the way, all countries are doing this. They oblige the seller who is abroad to register in the country and collect tax like any seller. But for this to work, there must be very simple rules, and this is what the reform does”said in an interview with Power360.
Watch (42min53s):
Appy reinforced that the topic is already under discussion in the Ministry of Finance. today there is Brazilian retail pressure for which companies e-commerce international, how Shein, Shopee It is aliexpress, from being taxed or that the goods are not sold at underpriced prices.
On March 15, congressmen from the PEF (Parliamentary Front for Entrepreneurship) also asked to the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddadthat the government intervene to tax foreign companies that circumvent the taxation system of IRS to sell the products in Brazil with low taxes. The group claims that the practice has harmed Brazilian retailers, who are charged along the production chain.
IOF reform
Bernard Appy also said that the inclusion of other taxes, such as IOF (Tax on Financial Operations), in the reform on consumption, would raise the tax burden. O Power360 found that the Chamber’s tax reform GT (working group) wants to include the tax under discussion.
There are criticisms by deputies of the cumulative tax due to the complexity of its collection. In this respect, it differs from VAT (value added tax), which allows credit recovery as it is non-cumulative.
“It’s all a matter of aliquot. Tax reform keeps revenue constant. If I eliminate the IOF and add it to VAT, I will have to have a higher rate to collect what the IOF collects today. It is a political decision in the end, but the rate is already quite high by international standards because Brazil already taxes consumption a lot”he declared.
If the IOF actually enters the reform, it will be the 6th tax to be replaced by the IBS (Tax on Transactions with Goods and Services), considering the PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) 45 of 2019. if the PEC 110 of 2019 prevail, CBS (Contribution on Goods and Services) would play that role.
load on consumption
The economist said that it is not possible to reduce the burden on consumption in the short term. “Unfortunately, the country’s fiscal situation today does not allow for reducing the burden of consumption. In the future, who knows, maybe it will decrease”he added.
He stated, however, that maintaining the tax burden is “point of honor” to the government.
#Reform #taxing #international #purchases #Appy