On August 2, the government sanctioned Complementary Law 199/23, establishing the National Statute for Simplification of Ancillary Tax Obligations. The aim is to facilitate taxpayers’ compliance with tax obligations, such as completing declarations and other information necessary for the fiscal administration of the Union, States, Municipalities, and the Federal District.
However, key points of the project were vetoed, including the creation of the Electronic Brazil Tax Invoice (NFB-e), the Digital Brazil Tax Declaration (DFDB), and the Unified Registration Record (RCU). These tools were intended to simplify and unify the fiscal databases of the Federal Revenue and the finance departments of states and municipalities.
The NFB-e aimed to replace various documents from different spheres with a single model. The DFDB would aggregate tax information from all levels (federal, state, district, and municipal) to unify the database of administrations. The RCU would allow the use of the CNPJ as a unique identification number for legal entities in public service databases.
The vetoes were justified by an increase in costs for compliance with tax obligations and financial costs for society and public administration. The government argued that the vetoes were necessary due to the need to evolve systems and acculturate society to new obligations.
Despite the vetoes, most of the text was sanctioned. The law provides for the unified issuance of electronic fiscal documents and the sharing of fiscal and registration data among tax administrations of the Union, States, Municipalities, and the Federal District.
The vetoes also affected the composition of the National Committee for the Simplification of Ancillary Tax Obligations (CNSOA), removing the participation of confederations, with the argument that the presence of such members could violate tax secrecy and the preservation of information. Additionally, the norm that established a 90-day deadline for the committee’s creation and the one that foresaw the use of the CNPJ as a unique registration identity for the identification of legal entities in public service databases was vetoed.
The CNSOA will be composed of 18 representatives, divided equally among nominations from the Federal Revenue, the States and the Federal District, and the Municipalities. The presidency and coordination will be in the hands of a representative appointed by the ministry responsible for the National Treasury.
The vetoes will now be analyzed by the National Congress, in a joint session of deputies and senators. Despite the vetoes, the new complementary law provides for measures to reduce bureaucracy, such as the unified issuance of electronic fiscal documents and standardization of legislations and systems aimed at fulfilling ancillary obligations. Moreover, it will allow the sharing of fiscal and registration data by the tax administrations of the three levels of government, whenever necessary to reduce ancillary obligations and increase the effectiveness of supervision.