'Blusinha tax': after the end of the tax, retail and importers take the dispute to Congress and the Courts

Purchases on Brazilian sites that do not inform products coming from China frustrate consumers e-commerce online commerce international purchases credit card consumption Thaisa Figueiredo/g1 The end of the so-called "blusinha tax" did not end the dispute between national retailers, importers, also involving Brazilian consumers. On the contrary, representatives of the sectors expanded their offensive on social media, in the National Congress, and even in the Judiciary. Announced in May by the government, the end of the blusinha tax eliminated the 20% import tax charge on international purchases under US$ 50 that had been instituted in August 2024.

The measure maintained the Remessa Conforme program — which regularized the purchase of these products abroad. Despite the end of the import tax, the states maintained their taxation, through ICMS, between 17% and 20%. This charge remains in place. ➡️While national retail moves for what it calls "isonomy" (equal taxation for national and imported products), importers act to keep the tax at zero (see more below in this report).

Retailers claim that imports have a competitive advantage over national production, which is undermining jobs. ➡️As a backdrop to this dispute is the fact that the revocation of the blusinha tax was done through a Provisional Measure, which has the force of law.

However, it will have to be confirmed later by the National Congress, which can maintain, block, or alter the measure. ➡️At the same time, regardless of the discussion in the National Congress, entities of the national productive sector are already moving to resume the collection in the Judiciary. All this happens in an election year.

Federal Government announces end of the blusinha tax Blusinha tax 🔎Started in 2024 and ended this year, the taxation was created as a response from the government and Congress to a request from segments of the national industry, after the increase in digital purchases during the pandemic. And also due to the difference in tax burden between national products and imported ones on online platforms. ➡️Controversial, the "blusinha tax" was disapproved by a large part of Brazilian consumers, mainly because it made popular low-value products more expensive and reduced the attractiveness of international platforms.

Critics argued that tourists on international trips had an advantage by not paying the tax. ➡️The taxation of packages with a value below US$ 50 will return in 2027 through the Contribution on Goods and Services (CBS) — a federal tax created within the scope of the tax reform on consumption. The rate to be charged, however, is not yet defined.

It will be set by December of this year. A calculation by the consultancy Roit points to a rate of 9.43% in 2027. ➡️From 2029 to 2032, there will be a transition from the state ICMS and municipal ISS to the IBS — the future tax on consumption for states and municipalities.

At the end of this period, the current state and municipal taxes will be replaced by the IBS, whose rate, together with the federal government's CBS, is estimated at 26.5% – one of the highest in the world. The tax will be charged on imports. Dispute intensifies Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction For the Institute for Retail Development (IDV), which brings together Brazilian retailers such as Americanas, Dafiti, Centauro, Casas Bahia, Lojas Renner, and Magazine Luiza, among others, the collection of the CBS starting in 2027 by the government moves to correct a "non-isonomic situation" – given the exemption for low-value imports.

But the entity also asks for the re-establishment of the import tax — in addition to the collection of the CBS. "All commercial operations with goods and services will, as a rule, be taxed, which is why commercial operations involving small-value and cross-border imports must also be taxed, respecting the law and especially local commerce, which is already so harmed by the tax distortions applied to it, whether in the taxation of Import Tax or in the taxation on value added, as in the case of the CBS", adds the IDV, in a note. This week, the Parliamentary Fronts for Commerce and Services, Business Environment, For a Competitive Brazil, and Defense of Intellectual Property and Combating Piracy, among others, released a document in which they reaffirm their "commitment to the defense of national production, job creation, productive investment, and the construction of a business environment based on fair and balanced competition". "Defending tax isonomy does not mean defending privileges. It means ensuring that all economic agents are subject to the same rules and contribute equivalently to the country's development.

It is precisely for this reason that we defend a simple, understandable, and fair principle: If it's lowered for foreigners, it must be lowered for Brazilians", says the document. On the other hand, the Brazilian Association of Mobility and Technology (Amobitec), which brings together technology companies providing services and importers, such as Alibaba, Amazon, and Shein, among others, assessed that the end of the import tax for small-value purchases is the "most natural and fair path". The entity highlighted the importance of Congress moving forward with the approval of the Provisional Measure that eliminated the "blusinha tax". "The revocation of the tax helps to democratize consumption by connecting millions of citizens to global market products with more accessible prices, especially benefiting the lower-income public. In case the Import Tax is reinstated, added to the CBS and the currently effective ICMS, the tax pressure on the final consumer should intensify", assessed Amobitec, in a note. Proteste Euroconsumers-Brasil, which claims to be a non-profit, non-partisan civil entity, independent of governments and companies, a Brazilian consumer defense association, but which also has Shein, Alibaba, and Amazon among its associates, that is, importers, carried out a national survey on the "blusinha tax". Among the main results, the survey points out that 92% of consumers consider that eliminating the federal government's 20% tax was a correct decision – a percentage that reaches 97% in the Southeast and 94% in the Northeast. For 88%, the National Congress should treat the topic as a priority.

🔎The survey was carried out between May 12 and 21, 2026, through personal interviews with 1,300 consumers aged 18 to 65, with a monthly family income above R$ 1,600. The survey included residents of the cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Goiânia, Brasília, Recife, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belém, and Manaus. Demand in Court The political dispute and on social media has also started to spill over into the Courts.

The National Confederation of Commerce in Goods, Services, and Tourism (CNC) filed, in May, a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI) with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) against the end of the blusinha tax. The entity says that, given the risk of regression and legal uncertainty for national commerce, it "requests the granting of a preliminary injunction to immediately suspend the effects of the exemption". On the merits, the Confederation asks the STF to declare the total unconstitutionality of the challenged norms, "restoring competitive balance in the Brazilian market". "The re-establishment of the zero rate for international purchases of up to US$ 50 is a serious setback that directly punishes the national productive sector. We cannot accept a legal asymmetry that grants excessive advantages to foreign products free of federal taxes, while Brazilian companies alone bear the weight of our internal tax burden. National commerce does not fear competition, as long as it is fair", says the president of the CNC-Sesc-Senac System, José Roberto Tadros.