Excluding the cost of the foreman in import taxes promises to have a direct positive impact on everything that enters through Brazilian ports. The decision was made official by presidential decree with the aim of minimizing part of the import costs in the country.
The Special Secretary for Productivity and Competitiveness of the Ministry of Economy, Daniella Marques, explains that the change promotes a better allocation of resources by the productive sector and collaborates with the reduction of the Brazil Cost.
Tamara Simas Novais, coordinator of Import Operations at Allog, explains that the exclusion of the cost of the foreman in importtaxes is highly positive for importers. This is because reducing the customs value of the goods will result in the reduction of all federal and state taxes. “So, this reduction generates a cascading effect in the chain of taxes to be levied on imports and, in the end, helps to reduce the so-called Brazil Cost. The expectation is that this reduction will reach the final consumer as it will directly affect a part that weighs on the importing company and, many times, takes away its competitiveness”, he clarifies.
The foremanship comprises activities related to the movement of cargo in ports, including receipt, checking, internal transport, opening of volumes for customs checking, handling, storage and delivery, as well as the loading and unloading of vessels, when carried out by port rigging. .
What changes with the exclusion of the foreman’s cost in import taxes?
1) What is the purpose of the decree that excludes the cost?
Allow the reduction of import costs and promote a transversal trade opening of the economy, with positive impacts on competitiveness and global trade flows.
2) What are the budgetary and financial impacts of the decree?
According to a note from the Center for Tax and Customs Studies of the Federal Revenue’s Economic-Tax and Customs Studies Coordination, the budgetary and financial impacts resulting from the exclusion of foreman’s expenses in the calculation base of import taxes will cause an estimated impact for 2022 in R R$461.37 million and R$685.63 million for 2023.
3) In fiscal terms, what does the decree mean?
The exclusion of foreman costs is not subject to the conditions established in the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), given that the waiver is of a general nature and does not fit the conditions for waiver of revenue referred to in the law.
