BY FÁBIO BARACAT
Every day, more Brazilians are buying from international online sites, attracted by attractive prices, but not paying the due taxes. International online sites, especially Asian ones, are attractive due to their wide product mix and low prices.
Importing products through international e-commerce platforms requires the payment of taxes based on information required by the authorities (weight, price, product reference – NCM – identity of seller and buyer at least). As this information is often incomplete or wrong, the amount of taxes to be collected is incorrect, which creates unequal competition between formal Brazilian companies and part of the platforms that import products from abroad.
There are ten main issues related to Cross Border eCommerce in Brazil:
1 –Structural Problem:
Although imports under this model are highly representative in terms of volume (USD 8.5 billion in 2022), they are not classified as formal imports. This means that they are not counted as part of Brazil’s trade balance with China, despite being one of the three main products imported from that country.
This lack of recognition of Cross Border B2C eCommerce in the commerce chain is a real problem. Without this recognition, it is not possible to develop important indices that could show the government what measures should be taken to deal with the increase in this trade flow, how it affects the internal market and smuggling that uses this import model.
In order to develop risk management technologies and train customs inspectors, it is necessary to invest in control bodies, such as the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB), and to promote efficient public policies based on indexes.
2- Control:
The lack of isonomic rules between courier and postal operators generated a scenario of illegality. In the case of courier companies, they are responsible for imports and must pay import taxes and ICMS to release the orders. In the case of Correios, inspection and payment of taxes are carried out by sampling, and less than 2% of parcels are duly registered and taxed due to failure to send electronic information to the RFB.
2.1 Couriers: Courier companies are required to pay import taxes at the time of nationalization of orders under the RTS 60% regime, plus ICMS in the state of destination. Without these payments, orders are not released by the RFB.
2.2 Postal (Correios) divided into 2 categories:
Prime (UPU): in the Prime model, public companies from other signatory countries of the Universal Postal Union hire Correios do Brasil to carry out last-mile deliveries of parcels. In this model, there are practically no controls, and Brazil, as a signatory to the UPU, cannot refuse to receive these orders.
Packet: the Packet service is a Last Mile parcel service developed by Correios do Brasil to serve the so-called non-designated or private operators, who contract directly with Correios to carry out deliveries within the national territory. This model is the most used by the main foreign platforms, but it is taxed only when there is a DIR registration and inspection, which occurs in less than 2% of cases.
Important notes:
- It is important that Correios send 100% of the order information to the RFB to comply with the new customs rules.
- It is also necessary to include Cross Border B2C imports in the trade balance to allow for public policies that allocate funds to the RFB for the acquisition of equipment and training of customs clearance inspectors.
- The new rules created by IN 2124 correct the problem of illegal Cross Border trade. The Federal Revenue has been increasing inspections and seizures since the publication of IN 2124. It is necessary to ensure the implementation of the new rules for all Cross Border operators as of July 1st.
3 – For an efficient Cross Border operation, it is necessary to manage the risks of customs agencies, sharing in advance the data of orders destined for Brazil by the commercial operator.
4 – Just as the best way to avoid tax default is to charge taxes at the time of purchase, ensuring that no order enters the country without paying the corresponding taxes, this is currently not feasible due to a technical impossibility of the Federal Revenue Service.
5 – The only payment model for these taxes is the DDU, that is, the taxes are only generated after the registration of the DIR (remittance import declaration), which makes it impossible for the consumer, the marketplace and the logistics operators to pay the taxes until the generation of the collection document.
6- In the current model, if the platform charges taxes at the time of sale and, when the order arrives in Brazil, there is no record of the DIR, no import tax will be generated. In that case, the platform would keep the consumer’s money, configuring embezzlement.
7 – The return and implementation of the DDP model should be proposed as the only way to import Cross Border and extinguish the DDU model.
8 – It is essential to demand the provision of all information contained in IN 2124 without restrictions, including the identification of the seller, buyer, value of the goods, quantity of items, weight, insurance and freight cost.
9 – In addition, it is essential to identify the seller by means of an ID, in order to enable the identification and application of sanctions in case of illicit practices.
10 – It is also necessary to create punishment rules for companies that do not meet Brazilian customs requirements. Finally, one should consider the possibility of including ICMS in international orders when sent by post.
To combat irregularities and unfair competition from some foreign international e-commerce platforms in relation to national trade, the Brazilian Federal Revenue issued on December 16, 2022 a Normative instruction no. 2.124/22, which, as of July 2023, will require all international shipments to send the information listed in the standard itself.
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