Source: Gás Brasil – São Paulo/SP – FUEL – 04/03/2010

A technological novelty promises to be the Santa Catarina government's most effective weapon against tax evasion in the fuel trade. If the results are positive, there is a chance that the experience will be replicated in the rest of the country. 
A technological novelty promises to be the Santa Catarina government's most effective weapon against tax evasion in the fuel trade. If the results are positive, there are chances of the experience being replicated in the rest of the country. The weapon in question is the unprecedented Fuel Monitoring System (SMC), equipment composed of a set of hardware and software, which manages the volume of fuel stored in the tanks and automatically sends the data to the State Treasury Department.

The SMC was approved by State Law 14967 of 07/12/2009 and its implementation will be gradual, starting in 2010 and ending in 2015.

The system consists of measuring probes coupled to the tanks and connected to a sealed console (level gauge) installed on the gas station's premises. All recorded tank loading data are captured and transmitted by GSM (cellular) to the secretariat, every hour or every 30 minutes, or at other predetermined intervals.

According to the coordinator of the Sectorial Specialist Group on Fuels and Lubricants (Gescol), Roque Bach, the SMC allows for the precise monitoring of all fuel movement at the station, detecting, mainly, cases of ICMS evasion. The Finance Department cross-checks the SMC information with the data from the Electronic Invoice (NF-e) issued by the distributor and also with the collection documents (DARE and GNRE) of the post, checking for discrepancies.

If the difference is found or if there is a shipment without the respective note or vice versa, then the ICMS amount evaded by the post is calculated. If a gas station has purchased, for example, 10 liters of ethanol without the respective NF-e, Sefaz will be able to immediately verify the fraud when comparing it with the SMC entry records. In this hypothetical case, the gas station will then have to pay a debt of R$ 3.250,45.

The Law provides that not all establishments will be required to install. There are 2040 active registrations of Posts in Santa Catarina. The Santa Catarina State Finance Department will establish the criteria and publish an implementation scale.

The SMC was approved by Law 14967 of 07/12/2009 and its implementation will be gradual, starting in 2010 and ending in 2015.

According to the Secretary of Finance of Santa Catarina, Antonio Gavazzoni, the fuel segment, although always the first to be remembered when talking about tax evasion, thanks to the continuous concern of the tax administration to control retail, has in Santa Catarina one of the highest levels of legality among all activities, above 90%. “Our percentage of gas stations with ECF and interconnection of installed pumps is close to 100%. This makes our state reach record collection rates and percentages of increase, in volume, well above the national average, with emphasis on Ethanol (+32%) and gasoline (+5,5%) in 2009, compared to to 2008”, he explains.

“We are promoting an inversion of the fuel inspection model – which has always focused on fuel distributors and inspection during transport. As of February, we will concentrate our efforts so that the Post – having to recognize its exits – is forced to register the entries”, explains the director of Tax Administration of the Treasury, Edson Fernandes. He recalls that the action will result, in addition to financial resources for Santa Catarina, the market balance and tax isonomy among taxpayers.