The bank questions the payment of PIS on all gross operating revenues, retroactively
Sao Paulo – The minister of Federal Court of Justice (STF) toffoli days granted a favorable injunction to the Santander for him not to pay PIS on gross operating revenues until the appeal in the action that broadened the base for calculating PIS and Cofins for financial institutions is judged on the merits. The decision is made on the night of this Wednesday the 16th.
Toffoli, rapporteur of the case, accepted the bank’s thesis according to which the IRS could already start charging the tax retroactively and that this would represent “extremely large amounts, ie billionaires”. Santander has had a favorable decision by the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF-4) not to be charged by the tax since 2007, according to the minister.
However, in June of this year, the STF decided that the tax should be charged to all financial institutions on all gross operating income, not just the core business, i.e. just the sale of products and services. This allowed the IRS to begin collecting taxes from banks, including fines and interest.
“The collection of the tax credit had been suspended since 2007, by virtue of a judicial provision without suspensive effect. the cause to keep the enforceability of the tax credit suspended until the judgment of the clarification request”, said the rapporteur minister, in the decision.
In early August, Santander appealed to the Supreme Court to avoid prosecution. In addition to the injunction, he seeks, on the merits, to ensure that the STF decision does not apply to his case or that the June decision of the STF is valid only for the future and not retroactively, on the basis of legal certainty.
The bank reversed 4.236 billion reais of the provision in the balance sheet for the first quarter of 2023, before the STF ruling, from probable loss to possible loss, i.e. it did not decide to succumb. In the balance of the second quarter, after the Court’s ruling, the bank set aside only R$ 2.672 billion. It said that the remaining BRL 1.5 billion would not be affected by the STF decision precisely because it is still subject to appeal.
In June, the STF decided that PIS and Cofins should be levied on all business activities, as it understands that the concept of revenue is broader than that of billing. Taxpayers, on the other hand, argue that only gross revenues (from the sale of products and services) could form the tax base.
The argument has general repercussions, i.e. it affects all financial institutions arguing the matter in court. The impact is in the billions. The Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban) estimates that around 12 billion reais are at stake. The Union estimates an impact of R$115 billion, according to the estimate in the Fiscal Guidelines Act (LDO).
Source: Terra
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