COMPANIES ARE COLLECTING SOCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS BEYOND WHAT IS DUE
09 de June de 2021
On 02/17/2020, the First Panel of the Superior Court of Justice, unanimously, decided that the calculation basis of parafiscal contributions (S System, Education Salary, INCRA) should be limited to 20 minimum wages.
Thus, several taxpayers have been collecting their contributions, for years, without observing the limitation of 20 minimum wages, making their tax expenses very burdensome. This difference can be striking, even more if we consider an almost catastrophic scenario in times of pandemic, as shown in the following example:
In the example, one can see the effective difference in the collections of a company with a monthly payroll of R$ 50,000.00 (fifty thousand reais), whose values increase in companies with larger payrolls. In other words, in five years, in the example, the highest payment would represent approximately R$ 100,000.00 (one hundred thousand reais).
However, to take advantage of the STJ’s understanding, the taxpayer will need to resort to the judiciary, and may request an injunction to start paying immediately on the legal calculation basis, since the Federal Revenue Service does not allow it administratively and also , claim the return of up to 5 (five) years of contributions collected on the wrong basis, duly corrected by SELIC.
Recently, the topic was promoted to the STJ’s Repetitive Appeals, which must take the judgment to the Plenary of the Court in order to establish jurisprudence on the matter. Maintenance of understanding is expected.
Giovanni Lemos Bina – OAB/RS 90.821
