A transport company from Mato Grosso managed to cancel more than R$74 million in fines imposed by the Federal Revenue Service. The extinction of the charge was determined by the Administrative Council for Tax Appeals (Carf), linked to the Ministry of Finance, which analyzes and judges disputes involving tax issues at the administrative level. The body’s decision, taken unanimously, is the first in the country and sets an important precedent for companies in the sector that suffer from problems related to the collection of PIS and Cofins.
Lawyers Thiago Dayan and Mario Castilho, responsible for the company’s defense, explained that in the case involving the transport company, the assessment was made because the Federal Revenue understood that the company had failed to comply with two legal requirements, which the legal panel contested and the Carf complied. “When applying the fine, the agency claimed that the company should include information on the waybill about the suspension of payment of the two taxes, in addition to attaching an express declaration from the companies receiving services that they are predominantly exporters, including the ADE number and who enjoyed the benefit of the suspension of the tax”.
In this case, the fine and the fine, in amounts exceeding R$74 million, were based on transport operations carried out between January 2019 and December 2020. “Unfortunately, this type of fine is common and, as confirmed by Carf when judging our appeal, incorrect, since the company strictly complies with the legislation”, highlighted Dayan.
When filing the appeal, Mario Castilho explained that these two obligations allegedly breached by the carrier were not applied to it. The argument was accepted by counselor Joana Maria de Oliveira Guimarães, rapporteur of the process. “In practice, it decided that the suspension of the collection of Pis and Cofins on freight contracted for companies that are predominantly exporters and authorized by the Federal Revenue Service is valid and that it is not necessary for the information about this suspension to be in the carrier’s transport documents”, he pointed out. the jurist.
In her vote, Joana recalled that Law 10,865/2004, which deals with the collection of taxes, makes it clear that the obligation to indicate the suspension in the sales invoice for raw materials, intermediate products and packaging materials, said nothing about the knowledge of transport. “The operation carried out by the Appellant, undoubtedly, is that described in section II, which deals with the freight of products destined for export by the legal entity that predominantly exports. This fact is not only proven, but it is also not denied by the inspection”, highlighted the counselor.
Joana’s vote was followed unanimously by the other councilors who analyzed the case, thus ensuring the total cancellation of the assessment and application of fines. “It is a very important victory, unique in Brazil, which can provide legal certainty for many companies in the transport sector that today comply with the law and suffer these fines”, concluded Thiago Dayan.
