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Federal Government Will Analyze Proposal to Tax Purchases from Shopee, Shein, and Aliexpress. Lawmakers Claim That These Companies Are Bypassing the Law.
This week, information was released that the discussion regarding the taxation of e-commerce companies, such as Shein, AliExpress, Shopee, and Wish, has been a topic studied by the Minister of Economy, Fernando Haddad. The proposal to tax purchases from these companies was presented to Haddad by representatives of the Mixed Parliamentary Front for Entrepreneurship (FPME), who request that the Federal Government study the possibility as soon as possible.
Federal Government Aims to Close Loopholes in the Law
Lawmakers point out that companies like Shein, Shopee, and Aliexpress operate under a practice that intentionally bypasses the taxation of sales because there are loopholes in the Brazilian legislation. Thus, e-commerce companies sell products without being taxed correctly, undervalued through the internet in the country, which is seen as digital smuggling.
The lawmakers’ proposal to the Federal Government is, therefore, for the department to analyze the possibility with the aim of reducing the evasion of customers from national companies, who are turning to international e-commerce due to the lack of or low taxation, and to strengthen the Brazilian economy.
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Once the proposal to tax purchases from Shopee, Shein, and Aliexpress is considered and formalized in law, products sent to Brazil by these companies would incur extra fees generated from a new policy to prevent tax abstention strategies that would be developed. Still in 2023, Haddad spoke about a very similar proposal aimed at taxing gambling games in Brazil.
Understand How Taxation of Asian Sites Works
According to economists who spoke out in April of last year, when the proposal to tax purchases from Shopee, Shein, and Aliexpress was taken to the Federal Revenue, the topic is complex and actually exposes the need to improve the competitiveness of the Brazilian industry in order not to hinder the economy.
According to the president of the Tax Law Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB-CE), Hamilton Sobreira, at the time, individual senders can send packages valued at up to US$ 50 without charging fees to consumers residing in Brazil.
Above this value, 6% import taxes are charged. From US$ 500, the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) and a customs clearance fee are added. The specialist also emphasized that manipulating data by declaring goods priced above the established limit at a lower price would characterize tax evasion, which is classified as a crime of fraud.
Possible Solution for the E-Commerce Problem
At the same time, Paulo Feldmann, a professor of Brazilian Economics at the University of São Paulo (USP), assessed that taxing foreign industry is essential for the development of a country but emphasizes that the problem lies in Brazil’s production chain and not at the consumer end.
Feldmann highlights that, for wholesale, there is not a significant impact compared to retail chains. And people want to have more options; thus the problem lies in buying manufactured items produced in Brazil from abroad.
Feldmann adds that high taxes on foreign industries are applied worldwide and are essential for local development. This has been very detrimental to Brazil for many years. Previously, the middle class would travel abroad and purchase imported products, but now e-commerce serves that purpose. In his words, the professor states that there is no developed country without industry. In this aspect, Asians are very strong.
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