Tax reform: credit not returned to the taxpayer within the deadline must be corrected by the Selic rate

Approved by the Chamber of Deputies this Wednesday (10), the final version of the bill that regulates tax reform (PLP 68/2024) determines that tax authorities will have to correct the credit balance of taxpayers who are not reimbursed within the deadlines set out in law using the Selic rate.

The credit balance is nothing more than the amounts of Contribution on Goods and Services (CBS) and Tax on Goods and Services (IBS) to which a taxpayer will be entitled to reimbursement if, at the end of each month, he finds that he has paid more taxes than he should have.

PLP 68/2024 states that the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB) — responsible for the CBS (new federal tax) — and the IBS Management Committee (new state and municipal tax) will have up to 30 days to assess reimbursement requests from taxpayers who are included in compliance programs developed by these same agencies. In other cases, the deadline for analyzing the refund may last up to 60 or even 180 days. After the analysis, the RFB and the committee will have up to 15 days to reimburse the company.

The version of the PLP that the government sent to the Chamber of Deputies provided for longer deadlines for reimbursement and did not establish an update of the balance by the Selic rate in the event of non-compliance by tax agencies, points that caused concern among representatives of the productive sector.

In addition to reducing the deadlines, the text approved by the deputies states that, if the RFB or the Management Committee do not return the credit balance within the correct period, the credit due to the taxpayer will have to be adjusted daily by the Selic rate. The update will be valid from the first day of the start of the deadline for reviewing the request until the day before the refund.

According to tax lawyer Rodrigo Pinheiro, partner at Schmidt Valois Advogados, updating the credit balance by the Selic rate, if the credit is not returned on time, is the least that could be expected from the PLP, to avoid losses to companies. “It is positive that this is clearly provided for in the text. If there were no update by the Selic rate, the credit would lose its value due to inflation”, he explains.

Federal deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP) believes that monetary correction of overdue credits is one of the measures included at the last minute by the rapporteur that improved the text. “The text underwent some changes throughout the process. Some details were added that we were unable to go into in depth, but this is a part that was incorporated into the text that can, without a doubt, bring less harm and improvements to the productive sector,” she said.

For the industry, the text could be improved, especially with regard to the agility of reimbursement of amounts. President of the Thematic Council for Tax and Fiscal Affairs of the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), Armando Monteiro argues that the refund of the tax credit balance should be faster than that provided for in the approved proposal. “If I pay the tax and recover it immediately, I replenish my working capital, so this effect of a longer period of accumulation of credits puts pressure, above all, on the financial costs associated with the working capital of companies”, he explains.

Punishment outside the final version

The version of the PLP that federal deputy Reginaldo Lopes (PT-MG) read in the plenary session of the Chamber, on Wednesday morning (10), provided that the delay in the reimbursement of credits to taxpayers would constitute an act of administrative impropriety against the principles of public administration on the part of the president of the IBS Management Committee and the special secretary of the Federal Revenue Service. However, the section is not included in the text that was voted on hours later.

Pinheiro believes that punishment for an act of administrative misconduct would be a disproportionate measure for delays in refunding taxpayers. “It would perhaps be a very bitter pill for the public administrator.” He suggests other penalties in the event of failure to comply with deadlines. “Perhaps financial measures, such as a 20% late payment fine, could, in my view, balance both the concern for the taxpayer to receive their payments within the deadline and the public administrator not being subject to an act of misconduct,” he ponders.

After approval in the Chamber of Deputies, the complementary bill that details how the new tax regime will work will go to the Senate.

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