Tax Reform and the Hidden Risk: Get ready for the largest trigger of disputes in the decade

The official speech of the simplification and. The logic is attractive. By replacing a web of tax with a more linear model, it is expected to reduce administrative costs, expand predictability and reduce dispute. The practice, however, shows that periods of fiscal change are rarely quiet. Transitions generate normative instability, multiply interpretations and expand disputes in the short and medium term.

What is designed for companies is the simultaneous coexistence of regimes, with transitional rules and obligations inherited from the previous system. It is not just about studying new standards. It is necessary to manage the coexistence of tax logic with fundamentals, bases of calculation and distinct investigation criteria. In this environment, any failure of calculation, framing or reporting can become a notice. An ERP parameterization error is able to produce hundreds of inconsistent notes in a few days and a liability that takes months to correct. The pressure grows in large supplier chains and interstate operations, where tax maturity levels vary significantly.

Fiscal risk management is no longer a restricted function to the tax department and becomes part of business governance. Legal, tax, controllership and technology need to act in a coordinated manner, with shared data and documented decisions. It is indispensable to maintain a permanent radar on complementary norms, regulatory adjustments and administrative guidelines, as well as monitor the position of tax and court administrations.

The promise of tax reform, of not increasing the fiscal impact on the, does not mean that sectors will not face an increase in their tax cost. While industry can benefit in various segments, it is well known that the service sector – the largest job generator/works in Brazil – will be strongly impacted.

The increase in the nominal rate on goods and services is not the only point to be considered. The greatest difficulty in calculating credits, in addition to their commercial fragility when formulating business proposals, greatly adds to the difficult equation.

What to do now to reduce the future impact

Companies that anticipate the normative curve reduce exposure and transform the transition into competitive advantage. All areas of the company, in addition to qualified individuals as taxpayers, must be aware of the positive or negative reflexes of tax reform.

1. Shopping: lIstar all suppliers of the company and confirm its profit calculation regime (Simples Nacional, Real Profit or Presumed Profit).
2. ERP: vErify if all suppliers are properly registered and with updated data.
3. Contracts: confirm existence and clauses on adjustments and tax obligations.
4. Commercial: Discuss price formation in the new scenario of consumption taxation.
5. Simulations of Fiscal Scenarios: Project impacts under different reform readings to locate potential outbreaks of dispute before they reach litigation and support pricing, contracts and logistics decisions.
6. Review and harmonization of internal policies: Update manuals, approval flows and tax procedures for immediate alignment to the new regime and eliminate divergent interpretations between areas and units.
7. Multidisciplinary committees with decision rites: Gather legal, tax, accounting and IT in short cycles with objective agenda, decision trails and registration of fundamentals, ensuring agile response to changes and notifications.
8. Automation and Calculation Controls: Strengthen ERP parameterizations, tax documents and automated reconciliations to reduce typical inconsistencies of the rules overlap period.
9. Directed training of critical teams: Train technical and operational teams dealing with document issuance, bookkeeping and compliance to reduce errors and standardize conduct.
10. Preventive chain compliance and assessment monitoring: Extend policies and audits to suppliers and partners and monitor, in real time, the first assessments and precedents to immediately adjust conduct and defensive theses.

These fronts gain traction when anchored in simple and useful metrics. Calculation quality indicators, inconsistency correction deadlines, rework rate in tax documents and risk map by operation help prioritize efforts and measure effectiveness. The goal is to operate in an environment of controlled uncertainty, in which initial learning avoids unnecessary disputes.

The marked feature of litigation in our country must be delayed, preventively, in contracts between borrower/buyers and providers/sellers, so that decisions that change the tax cost of the taxpayer (issuer of the fiscal document) do not impact the non -cumulative credit of the acquirer, who, in the new system, will depend on the effective payment or the existence of credits enabled on the road split payment.

In this complex scenario, it is essential to build a governance model capable of absorbing continuous changes without sacrificing predictability and competitiveness.

The practical results of tax reform will depend on the speed with which each organization turns complexity into efficiency. Who anticipates today litigates less tomorrow. Those who take the judiciary the price of not having prepared.

*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the young Pan.