“On October 05th, the Attorney General's Office of the National Treasury (PGFN) obtained from the Federal Regional Court (TRF) of the 4th region, in Porto Alegre, the suspension of the injunction that assured the Association of Manufacturers of Soft Drinks in Brazil (AFREBRAS) non-payment of Sicobe's operating cost - R $ 0,03 per unit of measured product.

The decision will cause more than 130 companies in the sector to comply with the inspection of the Federal Revenue and argues that the maintenance of the injunction “implies the absence of inspection of the production of beverages for establishments associated with AFREBRAS, providing a loss of collection of the order of, at least R $ 300 million in annual taxes ”.

Sicobe, which allows the Federal Revenue to monitor, in real time, each drink (beer and soda) is one of the main government instruments to combat tax evasion and installation in the sector's factories became mandatory in 2008. Its implementation and maintenance by Casa da Moeda have a cost - set at R $ 0,03 per unit of measured product - that must be reimbursed to it. However, this amount can be deducted later when companies pay IPI, PIS and COFINS.

Thus, the TRF of the 4th region evaluated that maintaining the injunction that allowed AFREBRAS not to pay this reimbursement to the Casa da Moeda could render the tax inspection in these industries unfeasible and suspended its validity. “