Source: Amanhã - RS - GENERAL - 18/08/2009

Of the total of 82 million electronic invoices (NF-es) processed in Rio Grande do Sul since September 2007, approximately 32 million have been issued by companies operating in the State. The rest, however peculiar it may seem, comes from 12 other states, which have opted to “outsource” this type of operation.

According to Ricardo Englert, state finance secretary, when processing NF-es from other states, Rio Grande do Sul is qualified to receive more investments from the federal government in this type of technology. The biggest advantage of digitalizing the issuance of invoices, however, is not in the resources coming from the Union. The great benefit is the efficiency in combating tax evasion. Estimate of the RS Finance Secretariat predicts a loss of R $ 1,5 billion per year due to tax evasion. With the NF-e, the tendency is that a good part of this amount will enter the government's cash, after all, it will be much more difficult to circumvent the tax authorities. For Englert, there are no difficulties in migrating printed processes to digital media. "If people are filing income tax online, I don't see any difficulties for companies to do something similar," he explains. Today, more than half of the invoices issued in Rio Grande do Sul are NF-e (tax coupons are excluded there, that is, businesses between the company and the final consumer are not included).

More than 11 thousand companies use NF-e in Brazil. The number will jump significantly after September 1, when 54 segments (in addition to the current 35) will be required to use the technology. According to information obtained from the Finance Secretariat, there is a protocol signed at Confaz (Conselho Fazendar), signed by all states, which regulates the change from the printed to the digital process. Those who do not comply will be subject to a penalty according to regional laws. The federal government's goal is to have all segments of the economy using NF-es as early as 2010.

See the list of segments that will have to use NF-e from September 1st:

- Manufacturers of cosmetics, perfumery and personal care products
- Manufacturers of cleaning and polishing products
- Manufacturers of synthetic soaps and detergents
- Animal feed manufacturers
- Paper makers
- Manufacturers of paper, cardboard, paperboard, and corrugated products for commercial and office use
- Manufacturers and importers of electronic components
- Manufacturers and importers of communication transmitting equipment, parts and accessories
- Manufacturers and importers of devices for the reception, reproduction, recording and amplification of audio and video
- Establishments that perform video playback on any medium
- Establishments that perform sound reproduction on any medium
- Manufacturers and importers of blank, magnetic and optical media
- Manufacturers and importers of telephone sets and other communication equipment, parts and accessories
- Manufacturers of electromedical and electrotherapeutic devices and irradiation equipment
- Manufacturers and importers of batteries, batteries and electric accumulators, except for motor vehicles
- Manufacturers and importers of electrical equipment for consumer circuit installations
- Manufacturers and importers of insulated electrical wires, cables and conductors
- Manufacturers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment for motor vehicles, except batteries
- Manufacturers and importers of stoves, refrigerators and washing and drying machines for domestic use, parts and accessories
- Establishments that perform wheat milling and manufacture of wheat derivatives
- Wholesalers of coffee beans
- Wholesalers of roasted, ground and instant coffee
- Producers of roasted and ground coffee, flavored
- Manufacturers of refined vegetable oils, except corn oil
- Manufacturers of pesticides
- Manure and fertilizer manufacturers
- Manufacturers of homeopathic medicines for human use
- Manufacturers of herbal medicines for human use
- Manufacturers of veterinary medicines
- Manufacturers of pharmaceutical chemicals
- Wholesalers and importers of malt for the manufacture of alcoholic beverages
- Dairy manufacturers and wholesalers
- Manufacturers of plastic material artifacts for industrial uses
- Manufacturers of seamless steel tubes
- Manufacturers of seamed steel tubes
- PVC and copper pipe and fittings manufacturers and wholesalers
- Manufacturers of stamped metal artifacts
- Manufacturers of metal drawn products, except standardized
- Stopwatch and watch manufacturers
- Manufacturers of optical equipment and instruments, parts and accessories
- Manufacturers of transmission or bearing equipment for industrial purposes
- Manufacturers of machinery, equipment and apparatus for transporting and lifting loads, parts and accessories
- Manufacturers of air conditioning equipment and equipment for non-industrial use;
- Sawmills with wood split
- Manufacturers of jewelery and jewelery artifacts
- Manufacturers of tractors, parts and accessories, except agricultural
- Manufacturers, wholesalers of bread, cookies and crackers
- Flat and safety glass manufacturers and wholesalers
- Merchandise wholesalers in general, with predominance of food products
- New vehicle dealers
- Manufacturers and importers of floors and ceramic tiles
- Weaving of textile fiber yarns
- Preparation and spinning of textile fibers.