The use, by foreign companies, of this special customs regime in Brazil – bonded warehousing for import - allows the storage, under customs control, of goods sent to Brazil to be made available to local companies, without such local companies having to promote the immediate collection of taxes levied on foreign trade (imports).
As long as goods coming from abroad remain under this special customs regime, the taxes usually levied on their nationalization (actual import) remain, therefore, with their enforceability suspended.
That is, during the term of this special customs regime, goods from abroad that are stored in bonded areas for public use or in port facilities previously accredited by the Brazilian Internal Revenue Service (“Receita Federal do Brasil - RFB”) enjoy suspension of payment of taxes.
Such suspension applies to Federal taxes, that is: Import Duty (“Imposto de Importação - II”), Federal Excise Tax (Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados – IPI”), Social Contributions on Importation (“Contribuição ao PIS/PASEP-Importação” and “COFINS-Importação”). In addition, the beneficiaries of this special customs regime are also entitled to non-payment of the State Value-added Tax (“Imposto sobre Circulação de Mercadorias e Serviços – ICMS”).
Although this special customs regime – bonded warehousing for import - allows the admission of imported goods with or without exchange coverage, as a rule, operations involving the import of used goods are not allowed.
Strictly speaking, the beneficiary of the special customs regime - bonded warehousing for import - comes to be the consignee of the goods to be warehoused, that is, the local legal entity designated by the foreign sender as responsible in Brazil for the goods coming from abroad. It should also be noted that, as a rule, local natural persons cannot be consignees of such goods.
Furthermore, it should be mentioned that the use of this special customs regime is fully applicable, in relation to the so-called indirect imports, that is, Import on behalf (“Importação por Conta e Ordem de Terceiro”) and/or Import by Order (“Importação por Encomenda”).
Goods from abroad can remain in the bonded warehouse for a period of up to one year, extendable, as a rule, for another year, counting from the date of clearance of the admission declaration.
Bonded-warehouse goods that, during the period established for their stay in this special customs regime, are not cleared for local consumption, that is, are not submitted to the common import regime, must be re-exported (necessarily returning abroad, even if not necessarily to their origin) or transferred to another special customs regime, if applicable. In the case of re-export, the suspension of taxes levied on foreign trade (import) becomes an exemption.
Once the concession period of this special customs regime expires, if the goods are not re-exported, the local beneficiary will be subject to the payment of taxes levied on the import, with the addition of a fine and default interests calculated from the date of registration of the admission declaration in the special regime.
It should be noted that, in this case, the goods must be re-exported within forty-five days of the end of the period of validity of the regime, under penalty of being considered abandoned and, therefore, having decreed their forfeiture in favor of the Federal Government.
However, to the extent that the bonded-warehoused goods have their ownership transferred to a local company, their nationalization must then occur through their dispatch for consumption.
In this case, upon the nationalization of the goods, the taxes levied on foreign trade (imports of goods) will be calculated based on the value contained in the agreement for transfer of property from the foreign owner to the local importer, converting to national currency the value expressed in foreign currency using the exchange rate in effect on the date of registration of the import declaration of the goods submitted for clearance for consumption. Said taxes must be collected on the date of registration of the declaration of nationalization of bonded-warehouse.
Finally, it is worth noting that the bonded-warehoused goods may be nationalized through orders for partial consumption, provided that the bill of lading that instructed the declaration of admission of such imported goods is unfolded.
