It was published on the night of this Tuesday, 12th, in an extra edition of Official Gazette of the Union (DOU)Provisional Measure (MP) No. 1,357/2026, which amends the decree on the simplified taxation of international postal shipments, to allow exemption from taxation on purchases of up to US$50 (around R$245).
The MP was signed earlier this evening by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), in a ceremony at Palácio do Planalto, and defended by the ministers of the Civil House, Miriam Belchior, and of Planning, Bruno Moretti. Representing Minister Dario Durigan, the executive secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Rogério Ceron, said that, after three years, the government managed to combat smuggling and regularize the online shopping sector, which allowed the exemption announced this Tuesday.
According to the MP, an act by the Minister of Finance can eliminate the charge for international remittances of up to US$50 and reduce the tax charge for remittances of up to US$3,000 to 30%. Currently, purchases from US$50.01 to US$3,000 are subject to 60% import tax, with a deduction of US$20 from the total value in case of adherence to the Federal Revenue Service’s compliance program, Conformal Remittance. From now on, the deduction for those who join the program will be US$20, taking the rate to 30%.
Published in the same extra edition of DOUthe ordinance signed by the Minister of Finance confirms the changes and establishes that rate reductions do not result in refunds, compensation or reimbursement in relation to the amounts of import tax eventually collected. According to data from the Federal Revenue, in the year to April, the rate generated R$1.78 billion in public coffers – an increase of 25% compared to the same period last year. In 2025, revenue was R$5 billion.
Although the normative acts are effective on the date of publication, Palácio do Planalto informed that the exemption from federal taxes will come into effect from this Wednesday, 13th.
History
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In August 2023, the federal government launched Remessa Compliance, which exempted small-value international purchases – such as those worth up to US$50 – made by individuals in Brazil and sent by legal entities abroad from import tax. To do this, companies needed to register with the Federal Revenue Service in a type of compliance plan, which regularized these transactions.
Companies such as Shein, Shopee, AliExpress, Mercado Livre and Amazon voluntarily adhered to the certification and began informing the Revenue about sales sent to the country. However, under pressure from national retailers, the National Congress included a 20% import tax on international purchases of up to US$50 in the bill that regulates the Green Mobility and Innovation Program (Mover), after articulation by the then President of the Chamber Arthur Lira (PP-AL).
Lula sanctioned the taxation at the end of June, despite having spoken out against the measure several times. He even stated that the sanction would be carried out by “the unity of Congress and the government, of the people who wanted it”. “But I, personally, think it’s wrong for us to tax humble people who spend US$50,” he said.
The rate came into force in August 2024, until it was attacked again by members of the government due to fears of an electoral impact on the president, who is seeking re-election.
In April of this year, Lula even said that he “thought the tax on blouses was unnecessary” and that the measure brought “harm” to the government. The statements were given in an interview with the portals Brasil 247, Forum Magazine e DCM.
At the time, vice-president Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), who held the interim presidency, defended the collection of the tax. “This (tax on blouses) was approved by the National Congress, way back when,” he stated on April 16. “I, back there, continue to understand what is necessary because, even with the tax, the tariff is still lower than national production”, he argued.
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The Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, previously headed by Alckmin and since April headed by Márcio Elias Rosa, had a favorable position towards taxation, with a view to protecting national industry. “We have a very large asymmetry in the tax regime that the producer suffers, and also the trade, but the national producer is the one who sells, for example, to those Asian countries”, said Elias in an interview given at the inauguration ceremony, on April 14.
In addition to the federal tax, the 20% Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), charged by the States and which is levied on the total value of the product, plus shipping, continues to apply.
