ASSOCIATIVISM: POSITIVE INFLUENCE ON TAXATION
By Halim J. Abud Neto, lawyer, partner of LJD and legal consultant of Abradisti since 2009.
The history of Abradisti is confused with the beginning of the ICMS (Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services) Tax Substitution Regime in the State of São Paulo, known by the acronym ICMS-ST. Although the modality already existed, the São Paulo law dictated rules of conduct – the main one being the possibility of organized and represented sectors to be consulted, through a survey, about their margins.
The ICMS-ST is the advance payment, by the manufacturer or importer, of the ICMS that would be paid throughout the supply chain until the final consumer. The calculation for application can be made in two ways: by means of arbitration by the State itself; or by a research, contracted by the representative entity(ies) of the sector and carried out by an economic research institute.
This is why Abradisti coordinates the Value-Added Margin (VAM) Survey, conducted since 2009 for the electronics sector, in partnership with ABINEE (Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association). The Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe) is hired to carry out the study.
Currently, 229 products are researched. The value-added margin is considered as the ICMS calculation basis and, if the survey were not carried out, the State Treasury could arbitrate a sectoral AVM, which today is 148%.
The risk of publication of the arbitrated margin exists, but the sector has always met the deadlines in time for the research to be considered. The new margins will come into effect at the beginning of February 2020. The current AVMs, defined by CAT Ordinance 85/2016, became effective in 2016 and will run until January 31, 2020.
