Simples corporations may have entry to a tax discount profit on merchandise for export

The Special Secretariat of the Federal Revenue and the Special Secretariat for Foreign Trade and International Affairs of the Ministry of Economy published, this Tuesday (13), a joint ordinance that extends the suspension drawback institute to small businesses opting for Simples Nacional. This instrument consists of suspending taxation on the purchase of products and services intended for the manufacture of items for export. In this way, the selling company stops paying these taxes, making the acquisition less onerous. If the export is confirmed, taxes and contributions are not paid again, since there is no taxation on exports. If the sale abroad does not take place, the company that acquired it must pay the taxes that were suspended.

Until the publication of the ordinance, companies acquiring Simples could not benefit from this right, due to a misinterpretation of article 24 of LC 123/2006, which states that “micro-enterprises and small businesses opting for Simples Nacional will not be able to use or allocate any amount as a tax incentive”. “We proved – by technical arguments – that this prohibition refers to the departure of products and services from Simples companies – their sales, since Simples changes the taxation on invoicing, not affecting the taxes on acquisitions”, comments the manager of Public Policies at Sebrae, Silas Santiago. The tax suspension now established by the Ministry of Economy covers the Import Tax (II), the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI), the Contribution to the Social Integration Program and the Public Servant Asset Formation Program (PIS/Pasep). ), the Contribution to the Financing of Social Security (Cofins), the Contribution to the PIS/Pasep-Import, the Cofins-Import and the Additional Freight for the Renewal of Merchant Marine (AFRMM).

Sebrae had been in dialogue with the Ministry of Economy since 2021, in order to clarify that the provisions that prohibited the drawback for Micro and Small Companies opting for Simples Nacional should be revoked. “As for imports, any benefit given to importers should be extended to small businesses, as this does not affect the calculation basis of the Simples Nacional. To prohibit these benefits was unconstitutional, as it left the MPE opting for Simples in an unfavorable situation in relation to other companies”, comments the president of Sebrae, Carlos Melles. He argues that the measure announced in the Ordinance will benefit Simples companies that manufacture products for export and that now gain more competitiveness, as they will have less taxes on their acquisitions.

For the Sebrae Competitiveness analyst, Gustavo Reis, the measure will increase the competitiveness of small businesses that export. “The ordinance will improve conditions for purchasing inputs, such as bottles, packaging, reagents used in the manufacture of cosmetics. This should increase the participation of small businesses in international trade, because they will be treated on an equal footing with other sizes of companies, increasing internal and external competitiveness”, says Reis.

Source: Agência Sebrae