Shein and Shopee’s situation has unpleasant news for customers

The Ministry of Finance announced that it will adopt a measure to prevent tax evasion by international companies such as Shein, Shopee and Aliexpress. According to the information received from the portal InfoMoney, plural Import Taxes at the time of purchase.

Read more: If the government approves this measure, you can say goodbye to your Nubank card

This is the model currently adopted by other foreign corporate markets. The portfolio minister, Fernando Haddad (PT), went so far as to say that companies are already adopting a “compliance plan”.

What Finance Minister Fernando Haddad called a “digital tax” is the tax that already exists, but will be collected at the source, before the goods are shipped. The ministry explained that the procedure is under development and will be detailed soon.

According to the filing, the idea is to facilitate electronic tax collection to ensure “fair competition so that the consumer benefits in the short, medium and long term.” The ministry emphasized that there would be no “creation or increase of tribute”.

Last week, Haddad told reporters that the federal revenue “compliance plan” would be adhered to by Shein and other Asian retailers, such as Shopee and Aliexpress.

International purchase tax

One of the measures announced by the government last month aimed at increasing federal revenue was to end the tax exemption for purchases of up to US$50 (about R$250) between individuals. The idea was to prevent foreign companies from exploiting the loophole to stop paying taxes.

According to the Ministry of Finance, platforms such as Shein, Shopee and Aliexpress will send international purchases as if they were individuals to get around the tax. Moreover, they will split the merchandise into multiple packages to avoid hitting the $50 threshold.

The negative repercussions of taxation were such that the government reversed its decision and decided to maintain the benefit of non-commercial applications. However, the economic team maintained its plans to increase inspections at federal revenue centers.

The exemption will not cease to exist for individuals. But the boss asked us yesterday to try to solve this from an administrative point of view. In other words, curb smuggling, Haddad said.

He added, “The President requested that we try to resolve this administratively, to use the authority to inspect federal revenue without having to change the existing rule.”

After recent developments, Shein announced an investment of R$750 million to nationalize 85% of its production in a period of up to three years. However, the government wants to ensure that taxes are paid by forcing them to do so at the time of purchase.