{"id":3228,"date":"2026-03-09T10:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/?p=3228"},"modified":"2026-04-08T16:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T19:52:12","slug":"pat-receita-reconhece-ilegalidade-de-restricoes-regulamentares-mas-beneficio-sofre-reducao-linear-a-partir-de-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/pat-receita-reconhece-ilegalidade-de-restricoes-regulamentares-mas-beneficio-sofre-reducao-linear-a-partir-de-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"PAT: Federal Revenue Recognizes the Illegality of Regulatory Restrictions, but the Benefit Will Undergo Linear Reduction as of 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB)<\/strong>, through <strong>COSIT Ruling No. 3 of January 12, 2026<\/strong>, issued a relevant interpretative shift by recognizing the <strong>ineffectiveness of the limitations imposed by Decree No. 10,854\/2021<\/strong> with respect to the <strong>deduction of expenses incurred under the Worker Food Program (PAT)<\/strong> for purposes of calculating <strong>taxable income<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This interpretation is particularly relevant for <strong>legal entities taxed under the actual profit regime (Lucro Real)<\/strong>, especially those that use the PAT as a <strong>corporate benefits policy combined with tax efficiency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Overcoming Sub-Regulatory Restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Decree No. 10,854\/2021<\/strong> had introduced significant restrictions to the PAT tax incentive, limiting the deduction:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to expenses incurred for employees earning <strong>up to five minimum wages<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<li>to an <strong>individual limit equivalent to one minimum wage per employee<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the COSIT Ruling, the Federal Revenue Service recognized that such limitations <strong>exceeded the scope of the regulatory authority<\/strong>, as they lacked support in the legislation that created the benefit. In other words, the decree <strong>could not restrict a right established by law<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, the <strong>original statutory framework<\/strong> is reinstated, allowing <strong>food-related expenses for all employees<\/strong>\u2014regardless of salary range\u2014to be included in the calculation base of the tax incentive, <strong>without any individual limitation tied to the minimum wage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>However, the <strong>overall deduction ceiling of up to 4% of the IRPJ due at the 15% rate<\/strong> remains applicable, as provided by the governing legislation of the PAT.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Possibility of Recovering Amounts<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The recognition of the ineffectiveness of the restrictions opens the possibility for companies to evaluate <strong>potential overpayment of IRPJ in previous fiscal years<\/strong>, allowing them, in principle, to seek <strong>refunds or offsets of amounts unduly paid<\/strong>, subject to the <strong>five-year statute of limitations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>This measure may represent a <strong>significant financial impact<\/strong>, particularly for companies with <strong>large workforces and robust employee benefit structures<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Linear Reduction of Tax Benefits as of 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Alongside this interpretative advancement, <strong>Complementary Law No. 224\/2025<\/strong> introduced a <strong>10% linear reduction in federal tax benefits<\/strong>, including those related to <strong>IRPJ and CSLL<\/strong>, effective as of the <strong>2026 fiscal year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>PAT incentive was not included among the exceptions provided by the law<\/strong>, nor in the <strong>Single Annex of Normative Instruction RFB No. 2.305\/2025<\/strong>. Consequently, it is <strong>subject to the linear reduction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>On <strong>January 26, 2026<\/strong>, the Federal Revenue Service clarified the operational method for implementing this reduction through <strong>Frequently Asked Questions (Answer No. 21)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Calculation Method After the Reduction<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For tax incentives subject to a <strong>percentage cap based on the tax due<\/strong> (as in the case of the PAT), taxpayers must:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Apply <strong>90% to the statutory deduction limit<\/strong> (4% of the IR due at the 15% rate);<\/li>\n<li>Apply <strong>90% to the amount of expenses forming the basis of the incentive<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<li>Consider as the deductible amount <strong>the lower of the two results<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><strong>Illustrative Example Provided by the Federal Revenue Service<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Recorded expense: <strong>R$ 1,000.00<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>IRPJ due at the 15% rate: <strong>R$ 10,000.00<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Legal 4% cap: <strong>R$ 400.00<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After applying the reduction:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>90% of the cap:<\/strong> R$ 360.00<\/li>\n<li><strong>90% of the expense:<\/strong> R$ 900.00<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <strong>deductible benefit will be R$ 360.00<\/strong>, as it is the lower amount.<\/p>\n<p>In practice, although the <strong>calculation base of the incentive has been expanded<\/strong> by removing the decree\u2019s restrictions, the <strong>final value of the tax benefit will be objectively reduced by 10% as of 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Final Considerations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The current scenario reflects a <strong>complex dynamic<\/strong>: on the one hand, the Federal Revenue Service acknowledges the <strong>supremacy of statutory law over regulatory provisions<\/strong>, restoring the broader scope of the PAT incentive; on the other hand, the <strong>fiscal policy of linear reduction of tax benefits<\/strong> imposes a quantitative reduction of the incentive.<\/p>\n<p>For companies, this scenario requires:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>review of historical calculations<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<li>evaluation of potential <strong>tax credit recovery<\/strong>;<\/li>\n<li><strong>adjustment of tax projections<\/strong> for 2026 and subsequent fiscal years;<\/li>\n<li>integration between <strong>tax, accounting, and human resources departments<\/strong> to properly measure the financial impact.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is a <strong>strategic matter<\/strong> with direct implications for the calculation of <strong>IRPJ and CSLL<\/strong>, requiring <strong>individualized technical analysis<\/strong>, particularly for <strong>large corporate structures<\/strong>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Brazilian Federal Revenue Service (RFB), through COSIT Ruling No. 3 of January 12, 2026, issued a relevant interpretative shift by recognizing the ineffectiveness of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tributario"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3228"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3261,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3228\/revisions\/3261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oliveiraalves.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}