This blog was last updated on August 4, 2021

Brazil’s tax authority, SEFAZ, recently announced new specifications for its e-invoicing program, set to take effect later this year. This is the first new release in two years for Nota Fiscal (NFe), and version 4.0 presents several challenges – both operational and technical – for multinationals in Brazil. With this new version in place, the SEFAZ will be able to better maximize tax collections through more accurate and robust data collections.

As companies prepare to upgrade from NFe 3.1 to version 4.0, they can expect substantial changes to the fields and layout of invoices, taxes collected and 16 new required validations, including: 

• Communication protocol for transmitting invoices will now only be accepted via TLS 1.2 or higher. This means that transmissions via SSL protocol are no longer sufficient, as it lacks necessary security for such data.
• New requirements for products subject to sanitary regulations to improve traceability in the event of recalls or other issues. Specifically, agricultural pesticides, veterinary products, dentistry, medicines and beverages, as well as packaging for these items, will require: batch number information, a manufacturing/production date and an expiration date. This mandate, in particular, may require significant changes to the way affected companies collect and report on this information.
• A new field intended to identify the tax value of industrialized products (IPI) in the event that goods are returned by non-taxable establishments.
• Calculation of contributions to the Fund to Combat Poverty (FCP), a 1 % or 2% tax applied along with the sales/service tax that is applicable on all intra- or interstate operations where a tax withholding has been applied.
• Modification of the “Means of Payment” (called “Payment Information” in version 4.0) to include the value of the change received by the purchaser when the amount paid exceeds the invoice amount.

Compliance errors –  whether they are submission or data related – can have major impacts on operations and result in steep fines. Therefore, companies need to prepare now to meet the SEFAZ’ timeline:

• June 1, 2017: Businesses can begin to test and validate their NFe under the new requirements.
• August 1, 2017: NFe 4.0 will go live – all e-invoices will now be validated under the new parameters.
• November 6, 2017: Version 3.10 will no longer be available.

These updates solidify Brazil’s position as one of the most complex business-to-government compliance environments in the world. 

To learn how you can prepare for the changes, register for our webinar, “Understanding Brazil NFe 4.0 Changes.”