COVID-19 | Tax and Customs Extraordinary Measures #10

As a result of the impacts of COVID-19, extraordinary measures have been adopted by the federal, state and municipal governments in relation to tax collection, compliance with ancillary tax obligations and customs procedure simplification by the responsible entities.

Among the measures effectively adopted from April 24, 2020, to April 30, 2020, we highlight the following:

I. Laws, Provisional Measures, Decrees and Other Legal Rules

• Federal Government

• Ministry of Economy Ordinance No. 10,786/2020: Allows the implementation of virtual trial sessions, to be held by video conference, within the Federal Tax Administrative Appeals Council ("CARF").

• State and Federal District

• Mato Grosso

• State Law No. 11,113/2020: Approves ICMS Agreement No. 42/2020, which authorizes granting the exemption of the  ICMS levied on the subsidy portion of the electricity tariff during the public health emergency period.

• Pará

• State Decree No. 718/2020: Authorizes the deferral of ICMS levied on imports of goods, machines and hospital equipment intended for the care of patients affected with COVID-19, when the clearance occurs in the State of Pará, during the pandemic period.

• Pernambuco

• State Decree No. 48,971/2020: Approves ICMS Agreement No. 42/2020 in order to establish the exemption of the ICMS levied on the subsidy portion of the electricity tariff, between April 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020.

• Rio de Janeiro

• State Decree No. 47,052/2020: Suspends, until May 11, 2020, the deadlines of ongoing administrative proceedings within the Rio de Janeiro State.

• Rondônia

• Resolution No. 004/2020/GAB/SEFIN/CRE/2020/SEFIN-GETRI: Suspends, until May 31, 2020, notifications related to tax proceedings, including notices of tax assessments.

• Act TIT No. 04/2020: Suspends, until  May 11, 2020, trials and deadlines related to the administrative physical proceedings in São Paulo Tax Court ("TIT").

• Municipal

• Florianópolis

• Ordinance No. 10/SMF/GAB/2020: Extends, until May 26, 2020, the validity of all certificates issued by the Municipal Revenue Office that expired after March 16, 2020, and could not be updated or obtained on the city hall website.

• Maceió

• Municipal Decree No. 8,873/2020: Allows taxpayers of the IPTU and of the tax to the collection of solid waste to pay their debts related to calendar year 2020 in one installment with discounts that range from 10% to 30%.

II. Relevant Bills

• São Paulo

• Law Bill No. 250/2020: Changes the State of São Paulo law related to the causa mortis and donation tax ("ITCMD"), especially in regards to the rates levied on specific transactions, which are:

• 0%, levied on the calculation basis that is equal or less than 10.000 São Paulo State Fiscal Units ("UFESPs"), in the case of causa mortis transmission, or equal or less than 2.500 UFESPs, in the case of donation;

•  4%, levied on the calculation basis between 10.000 UFESPs and 30.000 UFESPs, in the case of causa mortis transmission, or between 2.500 UFESPs and 15.000 UFESPs, in the case of donation;

• 5%, levied on the calculation basis between 30.000 UFESPs and 50.000 UFESPs, in the case of causa mortis transmission, or between 15.000 UFESPs and 50.000 UFESPs in the case of donation;

• 6%, levied on the calculation basis between 50.000 UFESPs and 70.000 UFESPs, in the case of both causa mortis transmission and donation;

• 7%, levied on the calculation basis between 70.000 and 90.000 UFESPs, in the case of both causa mortis transmission and donation; and

• 8%, levied on the calculation basis that exceeds 90.000 UFESPs, in the case of both causa mortis transmission and donation.

If you wish to receive regular updates on the range of the complex issues confronting businesses in the face of the novel coronavirus, please subscribe to our COVID-19 “Special Interest” mailing list.

And for any legal questions related to this pandemic, please contact the authors of this Legal Update or Mayer Brown’s COVID-19 Core Response Team at FW-SIG-COVID-19-Core-Response-Team@mayerbrown.com.

For more information about the topics raised in this Legal Update, please contact our Tax team.