Brazil to fast-track tax refunds for companies hit by U.S. tariffs

The tax relief measures were outlined in an ordinance issued by Finance Minister Fernando Haddad and form part of the “Brazil Sovereign” plan, a government program launched last week with credit lines and other measures to support exporters impacted by the U.S. sanctions introduced by President Donald Trump.

The regulation states that priority will be granted to requests already submitted through the electronic system known as Per/Dcomp (Electronic Request Program for Refund, Reimbursement or Compensation and Declaration of Compensation), as well as to new claims submitted within six months of the regulation’s publication, which occurred last Friday (22). This deadline may be extended for another six months by the Federal Revenue, Brazil’s tax agency, and the measure applies only to taxes under its jurisdiction.

Eligible companies include private-sector exporters of goods that generated at least 5% of their total revenue between July 2024 and June 2025 from products subject to the additional U.S. tariffs. Sole proprietors (MEIs) and rural producers with a corporate taxpayer registration (CNPJ) may also qualify.

The Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services (MDIC) will soon publish a table listing the affected products by Mercosur Common Nomenclature (NCM), which companies will need to consult to verify whether they meet the 5% revenue threshold.

The same regulation also extends deadlines for the payment of federal taxes and for installments related to debt settlements made with the Attorney General of the National Treasury (PGFN) or the Federal Revenue. Taxes originally due in August may now be paid by the last business day of October, and those due in September by the last business day of November. These extensions apply exclusively to companies impacted by the tariff increase.

The Finance Ministry said the deferral will have no fiscal impact in 2025, since the payments will still be made within the same fiscal year. It is designed as temporary relief during the first two months the tariffs are in effect. The ministry also said the tax credit refund prioritization will not affect fiscal balance. “There was no change in the rules for approving refunds,” it said in a note to Valor.

Tiago Sbardelotto, an economist at XP Investimentos, confirmed the measure should not impact public accounts, since it only changes the order in which refunds are processed. “The main effect is likely to be timing, more concentrated use of credits early on, and less later in the year,” he said.

He noted that the prioritization works in tandem with an increase in the refund percentage under Reintegra, a federal program that reimburses exporters for taxes paid in order to boost competitiveness abroad.

“In other words, the government is making a larger volume of tax credits available [by raising Reintegra rates] and at the same time speeding up access to those credits. While not limited to this specific type of credit, these will likely be the most relevant right now,” he explained.

Cutting in line

Tax attorneys interviewed by Valor raised concerns about how this “cutting in line” will work and whether companies that are not eligible could be harmed. They argued that this should not happen. The Finance Ministry rejected the idea that other companies would be disadvantaged.

“The prioritization is legitimate to give businesses some relief, but it’s a regulatory measure that essentially ignores the chronological order of requests,” said Priscila Faricelli, a partner at law firm Demarest. She acknowledged that the government is facing a large backlog of credit refund requests, but warned that skipping the line could lead companies not covered by the measure to take legal action if they feel harmed by the break in chronological order.

Ms. Faricelli pointed out that Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) recently ruled that the chronological order must prevail in cases involving the reimbursement of credits from the government to private-sector parties. That ruling involved court-recognized credits, which must be paid through court-ordered payments known as precatórios, rather than through administrative requests. “The courts have consistently upheld the chronological order for precatórios,” she said.