The small tax on online shopping items has become a billionaire giant: the tax on international online purchases is soaring, breaking records, and now leaves the government facing a decision that could affect the pockets of millions.

Written by Viviane Alves

Published on 11/05/2026 at 23:42

Updated on 11/05/2026 at 23:43

Be the first to react!

Record collection of the blusinhas tax grew 25% in 2026 and placed the government, Federal Revenue, Ministry of Finance, industry, retail, and consumers at the center of a dispute over low-value international purchases.

The blusinhas tax returned to the center of the economic debate in Brazil after federal collection hit a record in the first four months of 2026. According to the Federal Revenue Secretariat, the government collected R$ 1.78 billion in import tax on international orders between January and April.

The result represents a 25% increase compared to the same period in 2025, when collections totaled R$ 1.43 billion. Thus, the charge applied to international purchases of up to US$ 50 reached the highest value ever recorded for the period.

How the blusinhas tax became a billion-dollar charge

The charge officially began in August 2024, after approval by the National Congress and sanction by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. During that period, companies registered in the Remessa Conforme program lost their exemption for low-value orders.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Government is already discussing the future of the charge

The increase in collection did not end the controversy. Last week, the Minister of Finance, Dario Durigan, confirmed that the possible end of the blusinhas tax is under discussion within the government.

Durigan stated that some ministers advocate reviewing the charge. The minister also emphasized that the debate needs to be rational and that the Remessa Conforme program should be preserved due to the advances already achieved.

Consumers, in turn, criticize the tax because it makes popular products purchased on international platforms more expensive. Critics of the measure also point out a difference between those who buy online and tourists who bring products from abroad.

Executive Secretary of Finance, Dario Durigan.

Industry and retail defend maintaining the tax

The productive sector maintains a favorable position regarding the charge. Vice-President Geraldo Alckmin, then Minister of Development, defended the tax as a way to protect the national industry from low-value products.

Representatives of industry, trade, and retail also released a manifesto for the permanence of the measure. According to the document, the tax reduced the tax disparity between international e-commerce platforms and Brazilian companies.

The manifesto also cites the segments of textiles, apparel, and footwear. According to sector representatives, these items have recorded the lowest inflation within the IPCA since July 1994, the beginning of the Plano Real.

Fiscal weight makes discussion even more sensitive

The blusinhas tax also gained importance for public accounts. In 2025, the Federal Revenue collected R$ 5 billion from this tax, setting an annual record.

In the first four months of 2026, revenue advanced to R$ 1.78 billion. The amount helps the economic team in its attempt to meet the year’s fiscal target, which forecasts a surplus of 0.25% of the Gross Domestic Product, around R$ 34.3 billion.

The fiscal framework, approved in 2023, allows a tolerance margin of 0.25 percentage point in relation to the central target. In practice, the target will be considered met with a zero balance or a surplus of up to R$ 68.6 billion.

The legislation also authorizes the removal of R$ 63.5 billion in expenses from this calculation, including expenses with precatórios. Even with these deductions, the official forecast points to a deficit close to R$ 60 billion in 2026.

Given this scenario, the discussion about the future of the ‘blusinhas’ tax ceased to be just a dispute over international purchases. The topic now involves revenue, competitiveness, national industry, retail, and the pockets of Brazilian consumers.

After all, will the government be able to review the ‘blusinhas’ tax without giving up billions in revenue and without increasing pressure on the national productive sector?

0 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

The small tax on online shopping items has become a billionaire giant: the tax on international online purchases is soaring, breaking records, and now leaves the government facing a decision that could affect the pockets of millions.

Record collection of the blusinhas tax grew 25% in 2026 and placed the government, Federal Revenue, Ministry of Finance, industry, retail, and consumers at the center of a dispute over low-value international purchases.

How the blusinhas tax became a billion-dollar charge

Government is already discussing the future of the charge

Industry and retail defend maintaining the tax

Enjoei shuts down Elo7 and shows that, in the new e-commerce playing field, even creative platforms can lose ground when revenue falls, competition grows, and scale becomes survival.

Fiscal weight makes discussion even more sensitive

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

Philippines begin construction of the country’s largest desalination plant in a city without enough fresh water to grow, and the 66,500 m³ per day plant will transform the sea into drinking water for 50,000 homes in 24 months with reverse osmosis technology from SUEZ and JEMCO.

Turkey is building a billion-dollar shortcut to channel billions of dollars by sea with a 45 km long canal, 275 meters wide and 20.75 meters deep, which promises to relieve the Bosphorus amid the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.

A respectable cold takes over Brazil with a polar air mass, minimum temperatures below 5°C in elevated areas of the South, a drop in temperatures in the Southeast, and showers on the coast.

Portugal is going to launch a ship capable of independently commanding swarms of drones that fly, sail on the surface, and dive simultaneously.

While many libraries still resemble closed and silent buildings, Finland built a bridge library over 100 meters long, with an open ground floor, observation deck, cinema, workshops, and a suspended public space.

Instead of demolishing old coal warehouses, London doubled their roofs until they met in the center and created one of the most curious renovations in King’s Cross.

While old buildings are often abandoned, a city in the Netherlands transformed a 1932 locomotive shed into a library with giant curtains and preserved railway memory.

The small tax on online shopping items has become a billionaire giant: the tax on international online purchases is soaring, breaking records, and now leaves the government facing a decision that could affect the pockets of millions.

Record collection of the blusinhas tax grew 25% in 2026 and placed the government, Federal Revenue, Ministry of Finance, industry, retail, and consumers at the center of a dispute over low-value international purchases.

How the blusinhas tax became a billion-dollar charge

Government is already discussing the future of the charge

Industry and retail defend maintaining the tax

Enjoei shuts down Elo7 and shows that, in the new e-commerce playing field, even creative platforms can lose ground when revenue falls, competition grows, and scale becomes survival.

Fiscal weight makes discussion even more sensitive

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has ceased to be a climatic phenomenon and has become a biological system that feeds on itself, with 8,000 kilometers in length, 37 million tons of algae, and scientists confirm that it is now permanent.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

Philippines begin construction of the country’s largest desalination plant in a city without enough fresh water to grow, and the 66,500 m³ per day plant will transform the sea into drinking water for 50,000 homes in 24 months with reverse osmosis technology from SUEZ and JEMCO.

Turkey is building a billion-dollar shortcut to channel billions of dollars by sea with a 45 km long canal, 275 meters wide and 20.75 meters deep, which promises to relieve the Bosphorus amid the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brazil prepares diplomatic move to try to prevent 25% tariffs from the US

A U.S. document states that Pix has become a “national champion” in Brazil and that American rivals are partly funding the strength of the free system.

A pair of Chinese shoes arrived in Brazil in 2025 costing an average of US$ 4.50, an impossible price to match that helped reduce national footwear production by 1.9%, close around 3,000 jobs, and bring imports to the highest volume in ten years, according to Abicalçados.

USA “threatens” Brazilian imports with a 25% tariff citing digital commerce, Pix, deforestation, and patents, but exempts strategic products, while China offers itself as a partner and talks about defending Brazil’s sovereignty.

City in SC with less than 5,000 inhabitants receives a historic package of R$ 10.7 million, delivers paved streets and a children’s center, purchases an excavator and a minibus, and prepares new projects in health, education, and infrastructure for the local population.

A respectable cold takes over Brazil with a polar air mass, minimum temperatures below 5°C in elevated areas of the South, a drop in temperatures in the Southeast, and showers on the coast.

Portugal is going to launch a ship capable of independently commanding swarms of drones that fly, sail on the surface, and dive simultaneously.

While many libraries still resemble closed and silent buildings, Finland built a bridge library over 100 meters long, with an open ground floor, observation deck, cinema, workshops, and a suspended public space.

Instead of demolishing old coal warehouses, London doubled their roofs until they met in the center and created one of the most curious renovations in King’s Cross.

While old buildings are often abandoned, a city in the Netherlands transformed a 1932 locomotive shed into a library with giant curtains and preserved railway memory.