Source: Agência Senado, 10/04/2008

In a hearing at the Temporary Subcommittee on Tax Reform, which has just ended, the general coordinator of Inspection of the Federal Revenue of Brazil, Marcelo Fisch de Berredo Menezes, and the Assistant Secretary of Finance of the State of São Paulo, George Tormin, predicted the end of tax posts at the borders between states at the time when the tax authorities of all Brazilian states are working on the basis of electronic invoices to collect the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS).

The reduction in transporters' stopping time at tax points is just one of the benefits that, according to the exhibitors, the electronic invoice - already implemented in several states - will provide to the country's economy. For companies, the forecast is that there will be substantial gains from simplifying tax compliance. Tax authorities, in turn, will benefit from the reduction of loopholes that companies today find to evade the tax, which should lead to an increase in tax revenues.

Considered as one of the operational instruments that will serve as a requirement for the reform of the national tax system, the electronic invoice was debated in the light of two experiences: the Federal Government's Public Digital Bookkeeping System (SPED), in which one aspect is an electronic invoice issuing system that is being made available to states; and the program implemented a little over two years ago in the city of São Paulo, the Electronic Invoice for Services (NF-e), referring to the Service Tax (ISS), in which consumers are encouraged to demand the invoice from providers retailers and, in return, earn a credit of 30% on the amount of the tax paid, accumulating the amounts to pay the Property Tax and Urban Land (IPTU), the property itself, relatives or even friends. 

The Tax Reform Subcommittee is linked to the Economic Affairs Commission (CAE)