In September, Brazil recorded the extraordinary mark of 10 billion electronic invoices issued, a feat that also counted on ETCO's contribution to be materialized. The electronic document, officially implemented in April 2008 to replace the old paper notes, can be considered a true revolution in the accounting record, which brought benefits to tax authorities, companies and other taxpayers, in addition to positive impacts in different sectors of society.

With the electronic invoice, it was possible to identify, with precision and in real time, the tax movements carried out. In other words, States have come to know - and no longer estimate - the collection volume, based on precise information on the origin and destination of each tax event. In addition, the electronic invoice simplified the collection of taxes, facilitated the management of revenues and also reduced the rate of tax fraud and tax evasion, by improving control mechanisms, giving almost immediate reaction power to the tax authorities.

For companies, the electronic invoice also significantly reduced administrative costs for determining and paying taxes. By automating this process through an accessible interface on the internet, the electronic version of the invoice ended up reducing errors in issuing documents and making corrections simpler and faster. The tax, fiscal and financial management of companies was finally able to be integrated by information technology tools. Another great advantage was the agility in the clearance of goods at inspection posts, so that the process became much more transparent and secure.

ETCO participated in the design of the project still within the scope of the National Meeting of Tax Administrators (Encat), in 2005, when it began to be conceived, until its effective implementation, in 2007. The collaboration of the institute prioritized the proposal of suggestions, paths, analyzes and even facilitate access to technological resources essential to the implementation of the project. The fuel and tobacco sectors, widely represented within ETCO, were the first to make accounting records with electronic invoices. In the fuel sector, in particular, which previously recorded tax evasion rates in excess of R $ 1 billion per year, the effects were particularly beneficial. In a very short time, around 900 thousand companies adopted the electronic document, allowing state revenues to make a significant advance in the siege of tax evaders.

Already implemented in almost all economic sectors, electronic invoices are constantly evolving. Another step towards its improvement was the implementation of the Recipient Manifestation, through which the recipient of a tax transaction is notified about the movement, and can confirm or deny it. The technology started to be tested in 2012 and the process became mandatory, in 2013, for the entire fuel sector. In July 2014, it was announced the expansion of the mandatory Manifestation of Recipient to operations with alcohol for non-combustible purposes, transported in bulk.

The technology also has cloud computing, through which information is transmitted by computers and smartphones, and tax events are instantly recorded and shared by all agents in the tax chain. This is a very welcome innovation, which will certainly make the performance of tax evaders more complicated.

* Evandro Guimarães is CEO of ETCO