IRS targets foreign shopping sites

The Federal Revenue is studying an MP (Provisional Measure) to prevent foreign e-commerce companies from selling goods to Brazilians without paying the due taxes.

The change, if implemented, should affect marketplaces like AliExpress and Shopee.

The information was given by the special secretary of the Federal Revenue, Julio Cesar Vieira Gomes, at an event last Wednesday (23). According to him, the change will make it possible to verify the financial flow of operations and compare it with what is declared when importing the goods.

Gomes says the measure will curb what he calls a “virtual street vendor”. “We are developing a provisional measure and I think it will have very high gains,” said Gomes.

The secretary’s statements were made during a meeting with members of the Parliamentary Front for Competitive Brazil and representatives of the private sector in Brasília, and it is signaled after a request from businessmen such as Alexandre Ostrowiecki, CEO of Multilaser.

Businessmen claim that Asian companies have taken advantage of a piece of legislation that authorizes individuals to send foreign goods to another person in Brazil without paying taxes, as long as the value of the goods is below US$50.

The assessment is that e-commerce companies are defrauding data by registering more expensive goods priced below US$50. In addition, many declare the transaction as if it were a transaction between two individuals.

“There are major Asian e-commerce platforms that use a loophole that allows people to send products from abroad without paying tax. This loophole was created in the 1980s thinking about individual-to-individual orders,” Ostrowiecki said in a video aired during the event.

“These platforms are sending hundreds of thousands of packages pretending to be individuals and under-invoicing [os produtos]”, he said.

According to him, data from the Revenue indicate that the number of orders is growing geometrically and already exceeds 700 thousand packages per day, “direct from Asian manufacturers to people’s homes, without paying tribute”.

For him, the situation is unfair with Brazilian companies – who have to collect Brazilian taxes with a high burden.

According to Ostrowiecki, the country loses BRL 80 billion in revenue per year due to fraud and the demand has already been presented to the Ministries of Economy and Justice, in addition to the PGR (Prosecutor General’s Office).

Among the measures discussed with the IRS, is making marketplace sites (which sell products from different stores) criminally liable as supportive of the operations of their partners. In addition, it is also suggested the joint liability of the carrier (such as the Post Office) in case of transport of illegal product.

Entrepreneurs still defend the requirement for the invoice to accompany any goods to be transported by the Post Office, with all the necessary fiscal data. And they even ask the government to veto wholesale, retail or e-commerce companies from buying the Correios in the privatization process of the state-owned company.

In meetings with the government, there has been a presentation on digital smuggling organized by the IDV (Instituto para o Desenvolvimento do Varejo) – which even mentions dangers about the quality of products and services, using photos that depict distribution centers of the accused companies. with goods strewn across the floor.

“Taking advantage of the pandemic, international digital platforms, with operations inside and outside Brazil, started a true criminal attack on the Brazilian economy at a surprising speed and, at the same time, without any respect for national legislation – especially tax”, states the text of the IDV.

“These platforms are decimating small, medium and even large national companies, from the retail trade to the industrial sector. Companies, jobs and tax collection are under unprecedented attack in the country’s economic history”, says the text.