STF forms majority in lawsuit against banks that could generate losses to the Union

The majority of the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) voted against an action by the banks that could generate losses of R$ 119 billion to the public coffers, according to estimates by the Federal Revenue Service. The lawsuit, judged in the virtual plenary on Monday night (12), discusses the incidence of federal taxes such as PIS and Cofins on financial income, such as interest, and can negatively impact financial institutions, securities brokerages, credit unions and insurance companies. .

The dispute revolves around the collection of taxes between January 2009 and December 2014, a period in which the law did not make it clear whether financial income should also be taxed. With the lack of understanding, the banks obtained injunctions to stop collecting taxes on the margin with loans.

The institutions’ defenses allege that PIS and Cofins could only be levied on revenue resulting from the final activity of companies, while the federal government understood that all business activity should be taxed. The Attorney General’s Office of the National Treasury (PGFN) argued that there is case law since 1998, which defined that social security is financed not only by billing, but also by the revenue of companies.

“The notion of services of any nature, according to the Court’s jurisprudence, is broad enough to encompass the typical business activity of financial institutions”, said Minister Dias Toffoli in the vote recorded by the newspaper The state of Sao Paulo.

The Federal Revenue’s calculations, however, are questioned by the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban). For the entity representing the financial sector, the total amount adds up to approximately R$ 12 billion in shares of banks Bradesco, Itaú-Unibanco, Santander, Mercantil do Brasil, Daycoval, BNP Paribas, BTG Pactual, GMAC and Bank of America.

Also according to the institution, six of the 15 largest banks in the country joined the Tax Recovery Program (Refis) or do not have the thesis under discussion in court. That is, they would not have contingencies to cover losses, such as Banco do Brasil, Banrisul, Caixa, Citibank, Safra and Votorantim.

The process reached the Supreme Court in 2010 and began to be judged in December last year. The result may have repercussions on another 65 lawsuits that are stuck in the Court awaiting judgment.