The Brazilian states decided to unify ICMS collection about purchases made on foreign retail sites such as Shein, AliExpress, Shopee and others. According to the National Committee of Finance Secretaries (Comsefaz), the state tax rate will be 17%.
The discussion was initiated by the Ministry of Finance and had broad support from the states, and André Horta, director of Comsefaz, also confirmed that Minister Fernando Haddad will be notified of the unification of taxes.
For Horta, each state currently charges an ICMS rate for these operations and they vary between 17% and 25%. With the option for the lowest value, the measure can take effect immediately.
With the unification of the state tax, the consumer will have to pay the purchase price + the 60% federal tax, in addition to the 17% ICMS, which will be calculated based on the sum of the product price + federal tax.
In a simplified practical example: your “blouse” costs USD 60 on the day’s conversion on the Shein website, but you must pay other fees in the following account: USD 60 (product price) + USD 36 (60% federal) + 3.48 (IOF) = USD 99.48. After the collection of the federal tax, the ICMS is entered into the following account: USD 99.48 + USD 16.91 (17% ICMS) = USD 116.39.
The federal government has also been working on a compliance plan with international retailers so that all this tax collection is done at the time of purchase. That is, the consumer will pay the fees embedded in the price of the product.
Companies that accept the government’s proposal will gain the “green light” so that their shipments are forwarded more quickly to consumers, something that should reduce the delivery time and reduce the time in which a purchase is “stopped in Curitiba” .
