Ângelo Ambrizzi
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
The world economy, in general, has a challenging scenario in 2022, given inflation, rising interest rates and the possible negative effects of the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, such as the escalation of fuel prices.
The transportation sector should continue to be affected by these factors. At the beginning of March, Petrobras announced a new adjustment to the price of diesel, which represented an increase of 24.9%. If this adjustment is added to those that have already taken place in 2021, it is inevitable that the price of freight will increase and, consequently, the price of products for the end consumer.
Measures such as the freezing of the ICMS tax on fuel, which has been extended by the states, will not be enough to contain the increase in prices and, in this context, it is up to the haulier to reduce their costs so as not to lose competitiveness.
However, one of the most effective cost-cutting measures is tax revision.
It is well known that the Brazilian tax burden on transportation is high and the complexity of the legislation means that many companies pay taxes unduly due to irregularities in the legislation or have a higher tax burden than their competitors due to a lack of fiscal intelligence.
A tax review consists of mapping possible credits resulting from undue tax payments, as well as analyzing the taxpayer’s business structure, its tax regime, costs, income and expenses, among other information that allows for a reduction in the tax impact on prices, generating greater profitability or competitiveness in the sector being assessed.
In Brazil, there are various tax regimes that can be implemented each year (real profit, presumed profit, Simples Nacional), tax benefits and special ICMS regimes granted by the states, and doubts as to whether companies can take ICMS and PIS/COFINS credits. All these various aspects must be analyzed in order to achieve the greatest possible tax efficiency.
Given the current macroeconomic scenario, tax review plays a decisive role in building competitive advantage. For this reason, hauliers should always be aware of the possibilities for review, always relying on legal tax support to optimize their tax burden.
