Author: ANA IKEDA

Source: UOL - SP - TECHNOLOGY - 23/10/2009

By UOL Tecnologia

A survey by the Instituto Brasil Legal (IBL) reveals that the illegal notebook market reached 35% of the machines sold in the country in 2008. The total number of computers sold was 12 million, of which about 4 million correspond to portable computers.

“We started doing the survey after checking a large number of notebooks imported from major brands being sold in Brazil with prices very close to national machines. If you stop to think that the incidence of taxes on imported products reaches around 57%, it was evident that something was wrong ”, comments Edson Vismona, president of IBL.

To start the study, the IBL crossed data on the entry of products into the country provided by the Integrated System of Foreign Trade (Siscomex) of the Federal Revenue and sales data provided by ITDATA and IDC, research institutes in the technology area. The objective of the study is to curb organized crime and unfair competition from imported products in relation to national ones.

Among the brands that do not report to the tax authorities mentioned in the survey are Acer, Toshiba and Asus. In total, only 20% of all machines sold in Brazil by these manufacturers were declared to the tax authorities.

The survey points out that Acer sold 200.010 notebooks in the country, of which only 31.328 were declared, which corresponds to 16% of the total. Toshiba already declared 1.917 notebooks to the IRS, that is, 10% of the 19.570 that it sold.

Acer announced in October that the manufacture of products on national soil. The Asus plant, on the other hand, has been maintained by Visum, a company from Curitiba specialized in assembling plates and electronics, since January this year.

“The fact that Asus and Acer started to manufacture their products in Brazil contributes to the sector's competitiveness and the population's access to qualified and legalized products. This is yet another victory for the institute in its work to combat illegality ”, explains the president of IBL, Edson Vismona.

The data obtained by IBL were forwarded to the competent authorities (Public Ministry, Federal Revenue Service, Federal Police, Ministry of Industry, among others).

Consumer tips
When it comes to buying a notebook that has evaded taxes, people may even think they are doing a good deal: the machines have low prices - up to 20% lower, as stated by the president of IBL - and a configuration above or equal to the national ones.

However, products may be defective and have no technical assistance. "It's a lottery," says Vismona.

The main tips for identifying an under-invoiced imported product are:

Keyboard without the Ç key

Wires and cables without the Inmetro seal

Product without Anatel seal at the bottom

Warranty certificate and foreign language manual

No technical assistance network.

More tips can be found on the ABL website.