Brazil’s Lower House approved on Wednesday (1) the provisional measure (MP) that changes the taxation of the Social Integration Program (PIS) and Contribution to the Financing of Social Security (Cofins) on ethanol. The written resolution goes to the Senate for analysis. According to the resolution, production cooperatives are equated with agents producing hydrous ethanol fuel and if they sell directly to retailers, they start to pay a combination of rates on revenue and on the volume of the product. For this combination of rates, the cooperatives will pay 1.5% on the revenue obtained from the sale as PIS and 6.9% as Cofins (rates valid for the producer and importer) plus R$ 19.81 per cubic meter of PIS and R$ 91.10 per cubic meter of Cofins. If the cooperative chooses to tax by production volume, it will pay the sum of the rates in force since 2007, which corresponds to R$ 23.38 of PIS and R$ 107.52 of Cofins per cubic meter of alcohol for acting as a producer; and R$58.45 in PIS and R$268.80 in Cofins per cubic meter of alcohol for acting as a distributor.
Sources: Agencia Brasil/Universo Agro (*Translated by Ia Niani)