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May 8, 2020
2020-1246

Brazilian Congressman proposes digital services tax

Entities that are part of large digital groups would be subject to a progressive annual digital services tax. Taxpayers should continue to monitor the progress of the bill through the National Congress.

On May 4, 2020, Brazilian Congressman João Maia proposed Bill 2,358/2020, which would establish an annual federal digital services tax called the Contribution for Intervention in the Economic Domain — Digital (CIDE-Digital).

Similar to the digital services tax (DST) introduced in many European / OECD countries, the CIDE-Digital is targeted at large digital groups whose annual worldwide gross revenue and local gross revenue exceed R$ 3 billion and R$ 100 million, respectively.

The CIDE-digital would be levied on gross revenues derived from:

  • Placing advertisements on a digital platform targeted at Brazilian users of that interface (i.e., digital-targeted advertising)
  • Making online platforms and multi-sided digital interfaces available to allow users to interact for purposes of facilitating the marketing of goods or services to those users (at least one user must be located in Brazil)
  • Transmitting data collected about users and generated by users' activity on digital interfaces

Should the bill be approved as presented, local and foreign legal entities that provide digital services and are part of groups whose income exceeds the thresholds would have to collect the CIDE-Digital. The CIDE-Digital would apply progressively as follows:

  • 1% on the portion of the annual gross revenue up to R$ 150 million
  • 3% on the portion of the annual gross revenue over R$ 150 million and up to R$ 300 million
  • 5% on the portion of the annual gross revenue that exceeds R$ 300 million

Both chambers of the National Congress (i.e., Chamber of Deputies and Senate) still need to discuss and approve the bill, in different voting rounds. The legislative process usually takes time in Brazil and there may be changes to the current wording of the bill during this process. Further developments should be monitored.

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Contact Information
For additional information concerning this Alert, please contact:
 
Ernst & Young Assessoria Empresarial Ltda, São Paulo
   • Artur Braga (artur.braga@br.ey.com)
   • Audrei Okada (audrei.okada@br.ey.com)
   • Rita Martins (rita.martins@br.ey.com)
   • Mariano manente (mariano.manente@br.ey.com)
   • Hugo Azevedo (hugo.azevedo@br.ey.com)
   • Erica Perin (erica.perin@br.ey.com)
Ernst & Young LLP (United States), Latin American Business Center, New York
   • Gustavo Carmona Sanches (Gustavo.carmona1@ey.com)
   • Tiago Aguiar (Tiago.Aguiar@ey.com)
   • Fernanda C Salzedas (fernanda.c.salzedas1@ey.com)
   • Marcus Segnini (marcus.segnini1@ey.com)
   • Ana Mingramm (ana.mingramm@ey.com)