Originally from:
Doing Business in Brazil - Looseleaf
Doing Business in Brazil - Electronic
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A. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
22.101 The regulation governing the computer industry in Brazil has
traditionally aimed at fostering local manufacture. In the 1970s and 1980s
the legislation then in place empowered government officials to impose
restrictions on the import of foreign-manufactured equipment or on foreign
ownership of local manufacturers, while providing Brazilian-owned
industry with fiscal incentives for production and research and development
("R&D").
22.102 Current laws are mainly focused on tax incentives to increase
local production and create an environment conducive to larger computer
penetration rate in the Brazilian society and address the digital divide,
such as: 1
(a) exemption from Tax on Manufactured Products - IPI of up to
95% until 2019, on the sale of computer products and services if
thresholds of local manufacture are met;
(b) lower rates of social contributions called PIS/PASEP and
COFINS assessed on revenues on sales of computer equipment.
1 Laws No. 8248 of Oct. 23, 1991, 10176 of Jan. 11, 2001, 11077 of Dec. 30, 2004, and
11196 of Nov. 21, 2005.
B. R&D INCENTIVES
22.103 In 2005, Law No. 11196 introduced several tax benefits to comply
with article 28 of Law 10973/04, which establishes that the Federal
Government will foster company innovation by granting tax incentives to
scientific and technological research and innovation in the production
environment.
Pinheiro Neto - Advogados, established in 1942, is Brazil's leading commercial law firm with offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. The founding Editor of this publication, the late J.M. Pinheiro Neto, was the Legal Advisor to the British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil.
