Author: Gil Augusto Pletsch

Source: Document Management - São Paulo / SP - 27/07/2010

SPED

Expert shows what NFS-e is and what it is for

The Electronic Services Invoice (NFS-e) is a document that exists exclusively digitally, with the objective of greater control over the collection and inspection of the ISS (Service Tax). The NFS-e is generated and stored electronically by city halls and this system consists of a set of computerized steps, in which service providers and borrowers can issue, cancel and consult invoices online, documenting service provisioning operations, requiring only a computer with internet access.

Its great benefit for tax administrations is the standardization and improvement in the quality of information, rationalizing costs and increasing productivity, as well as increasing competitiveness among companies.

For the taxpayer, whether an individual or a legal entity, it reduces the cost of printing and storing documents, eliminates calculation and filling errors (since the system does not allow irregularities), security and legal validity of the electronic document (through digital signature), which generally optimizes the entire process.

It is also known that some city halls use, as a way of encouraging the use of NFS-e, the generation of credits for the reduction in IPTU.

There is also an online service available on the website of the Municipal Finance Secretariats, where the taxpayer manually informs (note by note) the data related to the documentation.

Another option is through the use of the Web Service (also made available by the secretariats), which allows integration with the taxpayer management systems (ERP). In this way, the taxpayer will have a completely autonomous, secure and transparent process, relying on high performance and security technology. An example of this is the NFS-e solution from NDDigital - a high-tech solutions company that operates in the printing, electronic documentation and Hant (e-Procurement and Supply Chain) outsourcing segments - which has rapid integration with the ERPs available on the market serving the small, medium and large companies in the country. Through sales channels and partnerships, NFS-e NDDigital is available with great compatibility to the best ERPs in the country.

In order to keep taxpayers' activities uninterrupted, regardless of the availability of the services of the municipal secretariats, the Provisional Service Receipt (RPS) was created, a taxpayer possession and responsibility document, which has a sequential numbering that must be converted into NFS-e within the time stipulated by municipal tax legislation.

The implementation of the NFS-e system is the responsibility of each municipality (development or acquisition of applications, obtaining the necessary infrastructure and adopting security standards), thus being able to define the best form of ISS taxation. With a view to standardizing and improving the issuing process, a national model for service invoices was created. Through the ABRASF (Brazilian Association of Capital Finance Departments), the national standard of NFS-e is being instituted in the main municipalities of the country. It is up to the city halls to list the taxpayers that must adapt to the system, informing on user manuals and stipulating deadlines for regularization of the new mandatory.

The Electronic Service Invoice, together with the Electronic Invoice (NF-e) and the Electronic Transport Bill (CT-e), make up the Public Digital Bookkeeping System - SPED. This advance in computerization tends to improve the relationship between the tax authorities and taxpayers in general, contributing to the modernization of the current model of compliance with taxpayers' obligations with tax administrations and with the inspection agencies.

* Gil Augusto Pletsch is a Product Analyst at NDDigital.