Haddad foresees up to BRL 8 billion with taxation of Chinese website – 03/04/2023 – Market

Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) said this Monday (3) that he estimates to raise up to BRL 8 billion with the taxation of international retail platforms that circumvent the rules of the Federal Revenue Service.

“The whole problem is smuggling, electronic commerce is good for the country, it stimulates competition. What we have to curb is smuggling because it is doing a lot of harm to Brazilian companies that pay taxes,” said Haddad, without naming specific retailers .

According to the head of the Treasury, companies “cannot compete unfairly with those who are paying tax” in the country, and the expected amount of tax collection is estimated “between R$ 7 billion and R$ 8 billion”.

In March, deputies and senators from the FPE (Frente Parlamentar Mista do Empreendedorismo) asked Haddad to act to end the “digital smuggling” carried out, according to them, by Chinese companies, such as Shein. According to the parliamentarians, Asian companies sell products without taxation or underpriced in the country.

National retailers complain about the lack of isonomy in taxation and the difference in labor costs, which would give a competitive advantage to international platforms, which manage to offer lower prices.

Foreign e-commerce companies are also accused of practicing “digital smuggling” and tax evasion, allegedly taking advantage of loopholes in the rules and defrauding sales to avoid charging import taxes.

Taxation of platforms that fail to comply with Revenue rules is part of the package of measures proposed by the Treasury to collect more and achieve the targets set out in the fiscal framework, delivering the promised improvement in public accounts for the coming years.

Last Thursday (30), the minister stated that the package foresees raising federal revenues between R$ 100 billion and R$ 150 billion per year.

The taxation of the electronic sports betting market is also part of the plan “to recover the fiscal base of the Budget”, according to Haddad.

In an interview with GloboNews, the head of the Treasury stated that the Federal Revenue expects to raise between R$ 12 billion and R$ 15 billion with the measure – more than double the R$ 6 billion initially estimated.