By unanimous decision, the 2nd Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) upheld the levy of IPI on the departure of imported products for transportation to establishments of the same economic group. The panel applied to this specific case the understanding adopted in the judgment, under the repetitive appeals procedure, of EREsp 1403532/SC (Topic 912). In the judgment, held in 2015, it was established that the levy of IPI on the departure of the product for resale is legitimate.
The current case (REsp 1660349/SC) was judged by the panel after the taxpayer filed an appeal against a single-judge decision by Minister Francisco Falcão granting the special appeal by the National Treasury to reform the TRF4 ruling.
The taxpayer's lawyer, Rodrigo Alarcon, argued in oral arguments that there was no industrialization or transfer of ownership of the products, therefore, there was no possibility of IPI being levied.
The defender also said that Theme 912 does not apply to the specific case. “The discussion in this process is not a resale operation, but a mere transfer of goods between establishments of the same group”, he argued.
Alarcon also cited precedents from the 1st Panel of the STJ with decisions favorable to the taxpayer in similar discussions, such as REsp 1402138/RS, judged in 2020, and 1818386/MG, judged in 2022. However, the panel unanimously followed the rapporteur's vote.