Haddad says there is still no decision on taxing online purchases up to US$50

Minister Fernando Haddad, of Finance, said this Friday (22) that the government has not yet decided whether it will tax online purchases up to US$50 from foreign retailers, as has been studied by the economic team since the implementation of the Conform Remittance program. .

According to Haddad, the possible taxation of purchases will only be taken if there is a “maturation” of this issue. There was an expectation that there would be some announcement about this next week.

“The topic is controversial in the government and Congress. I heard several opposition parliamentarians asking for measures to be taken for this and others waging war on social media. […] There is no decision by the government on this”, said the minister.

Initially, the government had ended the exemption for purchases up to US$50, but backed down in the face of negative reaction and chose to implement this system for more rigorous control.

The Federal Revenue plans to establish a rate to tax imports only when the program reaches 100% of purchase declarations. Although the rate has not been officially announced, the 2024 Annual Budget Law (LOA) proposal already includes a possible taxation estimated at 28%, generating a projected revenue of R$2.8 billion according to calculations by the Economic value.

“We had an increase in revenue due to Remessa Compliance, which corrected distortions. We want to continue disseminating data on this matter. The IRS will release a first report for orders over time”, he added.

Fernando Haddad also stated that there had been an “escalation” of smuggling in the country in the last four years, and that no one “responded for administrative improbity”.

Haddad also revealed that he had questioned national retail companies about charging import taxes. “I asked the retail people: ‘didn’t you do anything in these four years?’” he asked.