International purchases below US$50 must be taxed in Brazil; understand new project

Federal deputy Atila Lira (PP-PI) put an end to the exemption for international purchases below US$50 in the project report that creates Mover, a national Green Mobility and Innovation program. The inclusion was not agreed upon by the Chamber leaders, according to reports. As the text is under urgency, it needs to be voted on this Monday (6) so as not to block the Chamber’s agenda.

The original project creates incentives for the adoption of green technologies in the automobile industry. It expands the sustainability requirements of the automotive fleet and stimulates the production of new technologies in the areas of mobility and logistics.

The end of the exemption for postal shipments from abroad does not address the original theme of the project. Lira’s report says that the exemption “has worried the national industry” and its existence creates “an imbalance with products manufactured in Brazil, which pay all taxes”.

The exemption was established in the Conform Remittance program. Between November 2023 and January this year, more than 13 million goods worth up to US$50 entered the country without Import Tax.

The creation of the program in June 2023 was a reaction by the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government to what was seen as “unleashed bleeding” in international purchases. In the Executive’s assessment, companies were circumventing the rules to send remittances to Brazil without paying the tax due. Shipment According requires voluntary accreditation of companies that want the right to send products to Brazil with exemption.

Mover foresees incentives of R$3.5 billion in 2024, which should reach R$4.1 billion in 2028. In Rota 2030, the program replaced by Mover, the average annual incentive was R$1.7 billion. Mover also increases environmental requirements for vehicles that are sold in Brazil, establishing the measurement of carbon emissions “from well to wheel” – which considers the entire cycle.

The federal government created the program with a Provisional Measure at the end of 2023, but it expired before being analyzed by the Legislature. Therefore, an urgent bill was sent to Congress to replace it. The rapporteur barely changed the program. In his report, he proposes the exemption from issuing an act of registration of commitments for imports of vehicles carried out by individuals or legal entities without a direct link with the manufacturer. In the project sent by the government, this was only allowed for individuals. (LUCAS MARCHESINI AND VICTORIA AZEVEDO/FOLHAPRESS)