The collegiate body of the 1st Chamber of the Superior Chamber of Carf decided that the taxpayer may segregate activities for tax purposes, separating the book trade and the assignment of rights as a franchisor. The case, which involved Wizard Idiomas (process 10830.008568/2008-15), was decided by a tiebreaker in favor of the taxpayer. The prevailing understanding was that the fact that the taxpayer is a franchise does not denature the commercial activity.
The case reached Carf after the tax authorities issued a notice of violation to collect CSLL from the company. According to the tax authorities, the taxpayer, who opted for the Presumed Profit tax regime, made a false statement by reporting that he was a book dealer, adopting a rate of 8% on 93% of his revenue, claiming that only 7% of the revenue came from the transfer of rights. However, for the tax authorities, the taxpayer is a franchisor, and the revenues come entirely from the transfer of rights and/or provision of services, applying the percentage of 32%.
The case began to be judged in April. The rapporteur, counselor Lívia da Carli Germano, voted to deny the Treasury's appeal, claiming that the franchise agreement is complex and allows for several activities.
Councilor Edeli Bessa filed a dissenting opinion, considering that even revenue from the sale of books can be considered to have originated from the transfer of the teaching method by the franchisor to the franchisees. She also understood that the division of revenues into 93% as coming from the sale of books and 7% from the provision of services is evidence of the artificiality of the taxpayer's claim. The dissenting vote was supported by Councilor Fernando Brasil de Oliveira Pinto, and Councilor Luís Henrique Toselli requested a review, with the score at 2 to 1 against the taxpayer.
Revenue sharing
Last Monday (9/5), the rapporteur faced the argument of revenue sharing, stating that the percentages could be strange if it was about the revenue of franchised schools in relation to students. However, according to her, since the revenues originate from the relationship between the franchisor and franchisees, there is no evident artificiality.
“If the school charged 93% for the material and 7% for the service, it would be clearly artificial. But the franchisor would not, because it charges the school, which then charges the student,” he noted.
Advisor Luís Henrique Toselli, in turn, stated that Wizard's trademark is its teaching materials. Therefore, for him, it would not be strange that most of the revenue comes from books. "In this relationship between franchisor and franchisee, it is natural to concentrate a large part of the revenue on the cherry on the cake of the business, which is the teaching materials," he said.
Two other councilors supported the position, totaling four votes against the Treasury's appeal. As there were also four votes to grant the appeal, the chair of the group, Andréa Duek Simantob, applied the tiebreaker in favor of the taxpayer.