In import operations for account and order, the effective importer is the one who contracted the service. The importing company only acts as a service provider, since purchases are actually made with the purchaser’s funds.

The obligation to issue the Invoice related to the importation of goods, under the terms of article 26, I, “e”, of Book II of the RICMS, containing the indications provided for in article 29, is of the effective importer, that is, of who contracted the import.

The importation promoted by an importing legal entity that acquires goods abroad for resale to the predetermined orderer does not constitute importation on behalf of third parties.

Therefore, in made-to-order imports, the taxable person for ICMS-import is the importer who, at first, acquires the goods, bearing the costs related to the operation, and in a second moment, after internalization, resells them to the orderer.

The calculation base for ICMS on imports is regulated in art. 16, III, and art. 18, I, II of Book I of Decree 37.699/97.

http://www.legislacao.sefaz.rs.gov.br/Site/Search.aspx?&CodArea=3&CodGroup=61

The calculation operation of the ICMS calculation base levied on imports is instructed in Item 6, Chapter III, Title I of Normative Instruction DRP No. 045/98

http://www.legislacao.sefaz.rs.gov.br/Site/Search.aspx?&CodArea=3&CodGroup=63

The special drawback customs regime, instituted by Decree Law nº 37, of 11/21/66, consists of the suspension or elimination of taxes levied on imported inputs for use in exported products. The mechanism works as an incentive for exports, as it reduces the production costs of exportable products.

It is important to point out that according to current legislation, the benefit of the exemption of art.9, inc. XXII, will only be granted by the State Revenue on imports of goods benefited from the suspension of II and IPI.

Attention: According to the RICMS, Art. 9, item XXIII, the departures, promoted by the importer, of goods, imported from abroad under the “drawback” regime, destined for any establishments located in this State, for industrialization purposes on behalf of the sender, are exempt, provided that they must be returned to the sending establishment.

Therefore, for an establishment to be able to issue goods under the “drawback” regime without the ICMS charge, two requirements must be strictly observed, namely, that the output be for an establishment located in this state and that the goods return to the importing establishment.

Failure to comply with the Drawback regime will result in the requirement of the ICMS due on importation, resulting in the mischaracterization of the benefit granted, and the tax must be paid with a fine and other legal additions.

If the taxpayer wants to opt for the payment of the debt in installments, he must file a spontaneous complaint, after the debt is due, the taxpayer can pay it in installments through the e-CAC portal.

Applied legislation: RICMS/RS, Book I, art. 9th, XXII, XXIII and XXIV

The Temporary Admission Regime has its concepts disciplined by the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service. In short, it is a special regime that allows the permanence of foreign goods in the country, for a specified period with suspension of taxes, or with payment proportional to the length of stay in the country, when dealing with goods of economic utility.

In relation to ICMS, provided that the Federal Government does not charge federal taxes and that said goods or goods are returned to their origin within the period established by the federal customs authority, the operations indicated in State Legislation with receipt of goods are exempt from the tax or goods imported from abroad under the terms of the Special Customs Regime for Temporary Admission.

When federal taxes are charged proportionally, ICMS will be charged, with the ICMS calculation base being the base relative to the proportion of federal taxes levied.

Applied Legislation:

RICMS/RS, Book I, art. 23, item XXVII

RICMS/RS, art. 9, item CI

RICMS/RS, art. 9, Items CLXXI, CLXXII

Applied legislation: RICMS/RS, Book I, art. 9th, XXII, XXIII and XXIV

International remittances are goods or documents that arrive or leave Brazil transported by Correios (ECT), whose operations are called postal remittances, or by private international express transport companies, also known as courier companies, whose operations are called express remittances.

When entering or leaving Brazil, international remittances are subject to inspection by the Federal Revenue of Brazil and administrative control bodies such as Anvisa, Agriculture, Ibama, among others.

It is up to Correios (ECT) or the contracted courier company to carry out the entire import or export procedure for the international shipment for the taxpayer.

With regard to imports, international remittances, provided that they are exempt from Import Tax and also subject to the Simplified Taxation Regime, are exempt from ICMS, pursuant to RICMS, Art. 9th, XLVII. Therefore, if import tax is charged, ICMS will also be due.

International remittances are subject, as a rule, to the Simplified Taxation Regime (RTS). The option for the RTS will be considered automatic for remittances that meet the requirements established for the enjoyment of the regime.

Exceptions to this rule are non-taxable remittances or those in which the recipient indicates to the Post Office (ECT) or to the courier company, until the time of posting the remittance abroad, its intention not to use the RTS, through communication in the manner provided by the customer service of the respective company.

It should be noted that rectification or cancellation of the Import Shipment Declaration (DIR) is allowed, in cases where it is proven that there was a mistake in the choice of RTS by the carrier when registering the declaration.

Information on the progress of deliveries, rectification of information provided, doubts about procedures or forwarding of any documents necessary for releasing shipments, must be dealt with directly with the Post Office (ECT) or with the contracted courier company.

With regard to exports, Normative Instruction of the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB) number 1847, of December 26, 2018, indicates that any shipment made by express shipment (shipments made by the Post Office or courier companies), with a value above US $ 1,000.00 (or the equivalent in another currency), requires a formal order, which can be carried out by the courier company itself or by the Post Office.

Exports up to USD 1,000.00, with or without exchange coverage (sale, sample, courier), will be exported through the simplified process of the DRE (Declaration of Express Remittance). Exports above USD 1,000.00 (one thousand dollars) with or without exchange coverage (sale, sample, courier), will be exported with the issuance of the DU-E.

As they do not generate the record of an export event (electronic event that proves the export has been completed) in the invoices issued for export purposes, it is extremely important that the sender keep the proof of export provided by the Post Office or Couriers for presentation to the Revenue State, when requested.

Information on the progress of deliveries, rectification of information provided, doubts about procedures or forwarding of any documents necessary for releasing shipments, must be dealt with directly with the Post Office (ECT) or with the contracted courier company.

The export customs clearance is the procedure through which the accuracy of the data declared by the exporter in relation to the goods, the documents presented and the specific legislation, at the time of export, is verified.

Single Declaration of Exportation (DU-E) is an electronic document, formulated in the Single Portal of Foreign Trade, which contains information of a customs, administrative, commercial, financial, tax, fiscal and logistic nature, which characterize the export operation and will serve as a basis for export customs clearance.

In summary, the Back to Back operation is characterized when a company located in country A sells a product that is in country B to a third company in country C. There is no transit of the goods through country A, since it is sent directly from country B to country C. In the case of Brazilian companies carrying out the Back to Back operation, appearing, in the example, as the company located in country “A”, considering that the goods do not enter national territory, the invoice must not be issued for the operation.

Import dispatch is the procedure through which the accuracy of the data declared by the importer is verified in relation to the imported goods, the documents presented and the specific legislation, with a view to its customs clearance (art. 542 of Customs regulation).

All merchandise coming from abroad, imported definitively or not, subject or not to the payment of import tax, must be submitted to an import clearance, which will be carried out based on a declaration presented to the customs unit under whose control the merchandise is.

Import customs clearance is basically disciplined by the IN SRF nº 680/2006 and IN SRF n° 611/2006.

Administrative Control on imports is currently carried out through the Import License (LI) subject to approval by government bodies.

The administrative system for Brazilian imports comprises the following modalities (Secex Ordinance No. 23/2011):

• imports exempt from Licensing;
• imports subject to Automatic Licensing; and
• imports subject to Non-Automatic Licensing. As a general rule, imports are exempt from licensing, and importers should only register the DI with Siscomex to start customs clearance procedures with the RFB unit (art. 13 of Secex Ordinance No. 23/2011).

However, in some cases, the importation of goods may be subject, according to specific legislation, to licensing, which may occur automatically or not (art. 550 of Customs regulation e Secex Ordinance No. 23/2011).

The import license application must be registered at Siscomex by the importer or his legal representative, or by agents accredited by Decex, Secex, and by the RFB (Licensing operation) (art. 18 of Secex Ordinance No. 23/2011 ).

Siscomex selects the DI registered for one of the following customs conference channels (art. 21 of IN SRF No. 680/2006):

• Green, through which the system registers the automatic clearance of the goods, exempting the documental examination and the physical verification of the goods. The DI selected for the green channel, at Siscomex, may be subject to physical or documentary verification, when evidence of irregularity in the import is identified, by the AFRFB responsible for this activity;
• Yellow, for which the documentary examination must be carried out and, if no irregularity is found, the customs clearance is carried out, the physical verification of the goods is waived. In the event of incomplete description of the goods in the DI, which requires physical verification for its perfect identification in order to confirm the correctness of the tax classification or declared origin, the AFRFB may condition the conclusion of the documentary examination to the physical verification of the goods;
• Red, whereby the goods are only cleared after carrying out the documentary examination and physical verification of the goods; or
• Gray for which the documentary examination, the physical verification of the goods and the application of a special customs control procedure must be carried out, to verify signs of fraud, including with regard to the declared price of the goods.

the purpose of the customs check is to identify the importer, physically verify the goods and the correctness of the information regarding their nature, tax classification, quantification and value, and confirm compliance with all obligations (tax and others) required due to the import . That is, the customs conference comprises both the documentary aspects related to the import clearance and the physical aspects related to the merchandise.

The art. 571 of Customs regulation establishes that customs clearance on import is the act by which the conclusion of the customs conference is registered.

Once the verification is concluded, the goods will be immediately cleared, as provided in art. 48 of IN SRF nº 680/2006.

The Nomenclature is an orderly system that allows, by applying its own rules and procedures, to determine a single numerical code for a given commodity. This code, once known, starts to represent the merchandise itself.
The Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM) is a regional Nomenclature for categorization of goods adopted by Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay since 1995, being used in all foreign trade operations of Mercosur countries.
The NCM is based on the Harmonized System (HS), which is a condensed expression of “Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System” maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO), which was created to improve and facilitate international trade and its statistical control.
The official languages of the NCM are Portuguese and Spanish.

The Common External Tariff (TEC) is the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM) plus the Import Tax rates, being uniformly adopted by all Mercosur countries.
The TEC came into effect on January 1, 1995, approved by Decree No. 1,343, of December 23, 1994, replacing the former Brazilian Customs Tariff (TAB).

The IPI Incidence Table (TIPI) is the Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM) plus the IPI rates and the TIPI Ex-tariffs.
The TIPI, which is based on the NCM, became effective on January 1, 1997 by virtue of Decree No. 2092/1996.

NALADI is the acronym for Nomenclature of the Latin American Integration Association.
Like the NCM, the first six digits of NALADI follow, by international convention, the SH and its last two digits are defined by the member countries of the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI).
NALADI is used in the definition of commercial agreements between its member countries, in order to stimulate reciprocal trade.

An Ex II tariff is an exception to the TEC taxation rule levied on a certain NCM code. In other words, only part (the EX) of goods classified under a certain NCM code is subject to a certain rate, which is different from the TEC rate for the respective NCM.

Given the need to stimulate productive investment, with a reduction in investment costs and modernization of the national industrial park, as well as an increase in the country’s service infrastructure, when they involve the acquisition of goods not manufactured in Brazil, a temporary reduction may be requested and exceptional Import Tax, through the Ex-tariff mechanism.

This temporary reduction in the rate can only be granted for Capital Goods and IT and Telecommunications Goods, as well as their parts, pieces and components, without equivalent national production, indicated in the Common External Tariff (TEC). The TEC rates spelled with the term “BK” designate goods classified by Mercosur as “Capital Goods”. Likewise, the acronym “BIT” designates “Computer and Telecommunications Goods”.

The procedures and requirements for granting the Ex-tariff were established by the Ordinance ME No. 309, of June 24, 2019 and SDIC Ordinance No. 324, of August 29, 2019.

Since the beginning of the implementation of the Common External Tariff (TEC), in 1995, the Member States of Mercosur have been authorized to maintain some mechanisms for adjusting national tariffs, through Lists of Exceptions, with defined deadlines for convergence to the levels of the TEC.

Currently, pursuant to the provisions of CMC Decision No. 11/21, incorporated by Gecex Resolution No. 288/21, Brazil may apply tariffs other than the TEC for a list of up to 100 NCM codes, this list is known as Letec. Letec is due until December 31, 2028, and can be changed in up to 20 codes every six months. These temporary exceptions may include lower or higher rates than those of the TEC, as long as they do not exceed the WTO consolidated tariff levels.

The Letec in force and the Letec amendment requests under analysis can be consulted on the Camex page on the gov.br website.

The Exception Lists for Capital Goods, recorded with the acronym BK in the Common External Tariff (TEC), and IT and Telecommunications Goods, recorded with the acronym BIT in the TEC, consist of two lists of goods that have different rates than those provided for in the TEC based on the permission established in the Decision of the Common Market Council No. 08/21, which was incorporated by Gecex Resolution No. 289/2021. Brazil is allowed to maintain the exception rates from these exception lists until December 31, 2028.

Gecex Resolution No. 322/2022 consolidated the assets that make up the Exception List for Brazilian Capital Goods and Gecex Resolution No. 323/2022 consolidated the assets that make up the Exception List for IT and Telecommunications Goods. The updated lists can be consulted on the Camex page on the gov.br website.

The special customs regime for bonded warehouse, on import or export, is what allows the storage of goods in bonded areas, for public or private use, with the use of certain tax benefits (suspension of federal taxes levied on foreign trade or benefits inherent to export, as the case may be) (Decree No. 6759, of 2009, arts. 404, 405, 410 and 411).

The regime admits both the permanence of foreign (or denationalized) and national (or nationalized) goods. In the latter case, the goods are those to be submitted to the Customs Warehouse on Import for the industrialization of goods intended for the research and production activities of fluid hydrocarbons (IN SRF No. 513, of 2005, art. 14) or those to be submitted to the Customs Warehouse on Export (IN SRF No. 241, of 2002, art. 29).

The temporary export regime is what allows national or nationalized merchandise to leave the country, with suspension of payment of export tax, conditional on reimportation within a specified period, in the same state in which it was exported (Decree-Law No. 37 of 1966, art. 92, caput; Customs regulation, art. 431; IN RFB No. 1.600, of 2015, art. 90).

The regime will be applied to goods listed in a normative act of the RFB and to those temporarily exported under international agreements. (Customs Regulation, art. 432).

The temporary export regime for outward processing is what allows the departure of a national or nationalized good from the country, for a specified period, to be subjected to a transformation, elaboration, improvement or assembly operation abroad, and subsequent importation, in the form of the resulting product, with payment of taxes on the added value (Decree No. 6759, of 2009, art. 449; Ordinance MF No. 675, of 1994, art. 2nd; IN RFB No. 1.600, of 2015, art. 109).

The regime is also applicable to national or nationalized goods leaving the country to undergo a repair, repair or restoration process (IN RFB No. 1600, of 2015, art. 109, § 1).

goods intended for carrying out their professional activities, including as a rural producer, craftsman, artist or similar;

imports for its own use and consumption;

imports into your personal collections.

For a legal entity to operate in foreign trade, except in some cases ofwaiver of qualification, must be qualified in the Integrated Foreign Trade System – Siscomex, whether in Express, Limited or Unlimited, and should be carried out, in principle, by the user of foreign trade systems that acts on your behalf in the System Enable.

Express Modality

The legal entity classified in the cases below will be subject to authorization in Siscomex in the Express modality and will not be subject to operation limits, whether for import or export:

• legal entity constituted as a publicly traded corporation, with shares traded on the stock exchange or on the over-the-counter market, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries;
• public company or joint stock company.

Limited Modality

When the financial capacity of the Legal Entity to carry out import operations is estimated at an amount equal to or less than U$150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the United States of America), or equivalent in another currency, it will be subject to qualification in Siscomex in Limited mode.

In this modality, the goods declarant may carry out import operations, in each consecutive period of 6 (six) months, up to the limit of:

• US$ 50,000.00 (fifty thousand dollars of the United States of America), or the equivalent in another currency, if your estimated financial capacity is equal to or less than this amount (Limited 50 thousand);
• US$ 150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the United States of America), or the equivalent in another currency, if your estimated financial capacity is greater than the limit of the previous range and equal to or less than the limit of this range (Limited 150 thousand) .

For the purpose of determining the limits, import operations will be considered at the customs value plus the cost of insurance and transport of the imported goods to the customs port or airport of unloading or the customs border point where the entry formalities in the country must be completed. customs territory.

The established limits also apply to the operations of:

• Import on behalf of third parties, in relation to the purchaser of goods imported on their behalf and order;
• Import by order, both in relation to the importing legal entity and in relation to the predetermined ordering party.

On the other hand, the following operations are not subject to the established limits:

• export;
• admission of goods from the ZFM;
• import on behalf of third parties, in relation to the importing legal entity referred to in art. 2 of Normative Instruction RFB No. 1.861, of December 27, 2018;
• import without exchange coverage, and;

Unlimited Modality

The goods declarant, whose estimated financial capacity to carry out import operations, in each consecutive period of 6 months, exceeds US$ 150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the United States of America), will be qualified in Unlimited mode and will not be subject to operation limits, either for import or export.

It is important to note that the amount of foreign trade operations must be compatible with the estimated financial capacity calculated and any discrepancy between these values may even justify the ex officio review of the goods declarant.

Authorized Economic Operator (OEA) is a strategic partner of the Federal Revenue who, after having proven compliance with the requirements and criteria of the OEA Program, will be certified as a low-risk, reliable operator and, therefore, will enjoy the benefits offered by Brazilian Customs , related to greater agility and predictability of its cargo in international trade flows.