By a vote of six to two, the 3rd Panel of the Superior Chamber of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (Carf) denied the taxpayer the right to take PIS and Cofins credits on freight of finished products. The prevailing understanding was that there is no legal provision for the use of credits in the post-production phase.
Traditionally, votes on the subject were tied in the collegiate. Recent cases on the subject were decided by the casting vote, such as process 10380.903528/2013-91, judged in November 2022, and 11080.904333/2013-14, analyzed in March 2023.
The new composition of the group was decisive in forming a pro-tax majority on the issue. Former councilors Valcir Gassen and Vanessa Marini Cecconello, who were in favor of crediting, left the group. Their replacements, councilors Oswaldo Gonçalves de Castro Neto and Semíramis de Oliveira Duro, voted today in favor of the position defended by the National Treasury.
The rapporteur of the case, counselor Liziane Angelotti Meira, granted the appeal of the National Treasury because she understood that the use of credits on expenses after the production process is not possible.
Counselor Tatiana Midori Migiyama filed a dissenting opinion. For the judge, the expenses meet the criteria of essentiality and relevance to the taxpayer's economic activity, as defined by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) in the judgment, under the repetitive appeals procedure, of special appeal (REsp) 1.221.170/PR. However, the majority of counselors agreed with the rapporteur's understanding. The dissenting opinion was followed only by counselor Erika Costa Camargos Autran.
The process is under number 13204.000079/2005-47.