Brazil opens tax settlement with up to 65% discount on fines that replace forfeiture of imported goods

Brazil opens tax settlement for fines that replace forfeiture: up to 65% off in exchange for confession and withdrawal. Deadline: 29 Dec 2026.

Receita Federal, Brazil's federal tax and customs authority, and the Attorney General's Office for the Treasury (PGFN) have opened a settlement for those disputing, in administrative or court proceedings, the fine that replaces forfeiture of imported goods when the goods cannot be seized. The fine at issue is the one assessed for fraudulent interposition of third parties or name lending. Settlement Notice PGFN/RFB No. 5/2026, dated 15 September 2026 and published in the Diário Oficial da União, Brazil's official gazette, on 18 September 2026, accepts applications until 19:00 Brasília time on 29 December 2026. It covers debts of any amount, whether or not registered as active debt, including those with enforceability suspended, and the fine qualifies even when it was assessed on a body of circumstantial evidence that the ostensible transaction never existed.

<strong>Importers.</strong> They are the main audience: anyone with an assessment for fraudulent interposition or name lending under dispute. On the date of the application, there must be a registered debt, a court action, objections to a tax enforcement action, or an administrative complaint or appeal still awaiting a final ruling on the dispute. The trade is plain: the discount costs the defense. Joining is an irrevocable and irretractable confession of the debt, as taxpayer or as jointly liable party, and requires withdrawing the challenges and administrative appeals and waiving legal arguments. Nothing already paid is refunded or offset, and existing deposits become Treasury revenue. A habitual debtor (devedor contumaz), under Complementary Law No. 225/2026, cannot join, even if the habitual-debtor status does not relate to these debts.

<strong>Importers, models and cost.</strong> There are five models, and the logic runs in reverse: the larger the discount, the larger the down payment and the shorter the term. The most favorable gives a 65% discount, with a 30% down payment and the balance in up to 12 installments. The longest gives a 25% discount, with a 10% down payment and up to 60 installments. A different model can be chosen for each debt, with one request per model. After the discount, the tax loss for corporate income tax (IRPJ) and the negative base of the social contribution on net profit (CSLL) can settle up to 30% of the balance. The link must be consolidated by 31 December 2025, and the certification must come from an accountant with regular registration in the Regional Accounting Council (CRC). The credit may belong to the debtor itself, to a parent company, to a subsidiary or to affiliates under the same control. The minimum installment is R$ 500, and interest is the accumulated Selic rate (the central bank's benchmark rate) plus 1% in the month of payment. The discounts do not enter the tax base of IRPJ, CSLL and the PIS/Pasep and Cofins contributions.

<strong>Importers, after joining.</strong> The route depends on where the debt sits. A debt administered by Receita goes through a digital process, and the request suspends the administrative proceeding. A debt registered as active debt goes through PGFN's Regularize portal, with a certificate of the status of the court case, and the application takes effect only with payment of the first installment. Withdrawal of the court action must be proven within 60 days of that date, on pain of termination. The down payment must be paid in full, and without it the application is cancelled. Liens, asset registrations and guarantees are not released on joining, and guarantees are lifted only when the agreement is fully paid. Those who join must keep regular standing with FGTS (the workers' severance fund), PGFN and Receita, and clear new debts within 90 days. Termination occurs, among other grounds, when three consecutive or six alternating installments go unpaid, and brings collection of the full balance, enforcement of guarantees and a two-year ban on a new settlement.

<strong>Freight forwarders and NVOCCs (non-vessel-operating common carriers).</strong> The question is one of fact: does your company, or any of your customers, have a fine of this kind under dispute, or appear as a liable party in any assessment? If so, joining requires a confession of the debt as taxpayer or liable party, and the 29 December 2026 deadline runs equally for everyone. In Gentil's reading, mapping the assessments in which your company appears, in any position, comes before any decision on joining.

<strong>Exporters and carriers.</strong> They are not direct targets, because the fine is an import fine. Exporters only need to know whether their import partners have assessments of this kind under dispute. The settlement has no direct effect on carriers.

Our take

before 29 December 2026, your company must decide whether to trade the dispute for the discount. Joining means confessing the debt with no way back and giving up the defenses, and only a reading of the assessment, the stage of the case and the real chances of success shows whether the numbers work. The choice among the five models changes the down payment, the term and the total cost. Using tax losses requires an accountant's certification. Termination brings collection of the full balance and bars a new settlement for two years. Each point depends on the others, and the deadline is fixed.

Questions for your company

• Importers: Is there an assessment for fraudulent interposition or name lending under dispute, administrative or judicial, and is the case still awaiting a final ruling?
• Importers: Is your company willing to confess the debt irrevocably and withdraw its challenges and its court action, who decides this, and do you know that deposits become Treasury revenue and guarantees are released only when the agreement is fully paid?
• Importers: Which of the five models fits your cash flow, and can your tax loss and CSLL negative base, consolidated by 31 December 2025, be certified by an accountant with regular CRC registration?
• Freight forwarders and NVOCCs: Does your company or any customer appear, as taxpayer or liable party, in an assessment of a fine replacing forfeiture that is under dispute?
• Exporters: Do any of your import partners have an assessment of this kind under dispute?
• All: Who in your company monitors regular standing with FGTS, PGFN and Receita and the payment of installments, given that three consecutive or six alternating unpaid installments terminate the settlement?

In numbers

29 Dec 2026

deadline to join, until 19:00 Brasília time

65%

maximum discount, with a 30% down payment and the balance in up to 12 installments

61

payments at most (10% down payment and 60 installments), under the 25% discount model

30%

cap on the balance that can be settled with IRPJ tax loss and CSLL negative base, after the discount

The deadline to join ends at 19:00 Brasília time on 29 December 2026. The largest discount, 65%, comes with the largest down payment and the shortest term. The smallest discount, 25%, stretches payment to up to 61 payments.

Sources

1. Edital de Transação PGFN/RFB nº 5, de 15/09/2026 (DOU de 18/09/2026, edição 177, seção 3, p. 61). Lido na íntegra. Objeto: art. 23 do Decreto-Lei nº 1.455/1976 e art. 33 da Lei nº 11.488/2007; devedor contumaz: Lei Complementar nº 225/2026
2. Receita Federal, Receita Federal e PGFN abrem transação para débitos relacionados a multa substitutiva da pena de perdimento (05/10/2026)

What changed

Calendar

26 Oct

Change to the Ibama LPCO for metallic mercury in imports and exports (Siscomex)

30 Oct

Deadline for comments on ANTAQ's Public Call for Input SRG No. 2/2026 (dry bulk transshipment), 23:59 Brasília time

9 Nov

End of the suspension of the USTR Section 301 port fees on China-linked ships, 23:59 ET

29 Dec

Deadline to join Settlement Notice PGFN/RFB No. 5/2026, 19:00 Brasília time

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