By seven votes to three, the 3rd Panel of the Superior Chamber of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (Carf) allowed the use of PIS and Cofins credits on expenses with freight of finished products. The process is 11080.005380/2007-27.
The understanding prevailed that expenses are essential for the company's economic activity, generating credits according to the criteria of essentiality and relevance defined by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
The decision represents a change in the understanding of the collegiate body, due to the new composition. During the administration of president Carlos Henrique de Oliveira at Carf, counselors Liziane Angelotti Meira, Rosaldo Trevisan and Vinícius Guimarães made their debut in the Superior Chamber. Due to the participation of the council president, the vice president of the court, Ana Cecília Lustosa, also participated in the session.
In 2018, the STJ ruled that, for the purposes of PIS and Cofins crediting, everything that is essential for the development of the company's economic activity should be considered an input. The decision was made in Special Appeal 1,221,170.
The taxpayer who is listed as a party in the proceedings underway at Carf submitted an electronic request for reimbursement of PIS and Cofins credits on expenses with freight of finished products between establishments of the same company and also to other establishments. For the purposes of inspection, however, the transport cannot be considered an input, since it is not a sales transaction.
The rapporteur, counselor Valcir Gassen, understood that freight is essential for the taxpayer's activity, after all, subtracting it would not be possible to carry out the activity carried out by the taxpayer. Six other counselors agreed with him.
Councilor Rosaldo Trevisan, however, disagreed. “I am still not convinced that the laws that deal with PIS and Cofins allow credits in relation to the freight of finished products. These products are neither inputs, because they are not related to production, nor a sales transaction, because it is a mere transfer,” he said. Councilors Jorge Olmiro Lock Freire and Vinicius Guimarães agreed with him.