Source: State Government of Rio Grande do Sul - RS - 10/11/2009

Earlier this month, the Rio Grande do Sul Finance Secretariat authorized the first Electronic Transport Bill, through Sefaz Virtual, for Goiás. Since July, Santa Catarina has used the system, as well as Amazonas, integrated in August, and the Bahia, which started issuing in October.

The director of State Revenue, Júlio César Grazziotin, points out that the CT-e follows the same path as the Electronic Invoice, already authorized for 12 other States and the Federal District. “The structure set up by Sefaz and Procergs allows companies from all over the country to have electronic documents issued via Sefaz Virtual, which helps in the consolidation of measures such as the Electronic Invoice, and now with the Electronic Transport Bill”, says Grazziotin.

According to the leader of CT-e in Rio Grande do Sul, Luiz Afonso Peres Ramos, the new version, 1.03, already in production, allows the issuance of a document of cancellation of values ​​related to the provision of cargo transportation services, due to a proven error. “This was an old claim by companies in the industry, as in the Bill of Lading there is no possibility, as in the Invoice, to issue an entry document for the purpose of tax credit. Now, with this new version, we have implemented the possibility of canceling values ​​”, says Ramos.

Companies that are interested in issuing the CT-e may voluntarily join the new electronic document by registering on the website of the Finance Department through the area reserved for taxpayers and accountants: http: //www.sefaz.rs.gov.br/ CTE / CTE-CRE-SOL.aspx.

First, a testing environment will be made available, in which companies will be able to carry out all the tests necessary to qualify for the issuance of the CT-e in production and, thus, they will be able to verify the benefits that the issuance of electronic documents provides, such as the reduction of downtime at tax posts, in addition to the obvious savings from reduced use of paper.

The Bill of Lading is a document that every cargo transporter must issue before starting its journey and carry throughout the trip for inspection by the farm authority. Traditionally, it was made on paper, in at least two copies, and the company had to file the originals for five years. With the use of electronic documents, transporters will gain time in releasing cargo in traffic inspection, in addition to not having to store paper documents, reducing the costs of accessory obligations to the Tax Authorities.