Brazil tax authority shifts appeals of large defaulters from CARF to DRJ‑R

The Brazilian Receita Federal published Portaria RFB 702/26, aligning the administrative tax dispute process with Complementary Law 225/2026. Under the new rule, voluntary appeals filed by taxpayers definitively classified as "devedores contumazes" (large, repeated, unjustified debtors) will be judged in a second and final instance by the Delegacia de Julgamento Recursal da Receita Federal (DRJ‑R) instead of the Conselho Administrativo de Recursos Fiscais (CARF). The authority that reviews the appeal is determined by the taxpayer’s status at the moment the appeal is lodged; any later removal or confirmation of the devedor contumaz status does not alter the assigned competence.

Classification as devedor contumaz requires a tax debt of at least R$ 15 million, debt exceeding 100 % of the taxpayer’s known assets, persistence of irregularity for four consecutive or six alternating periods, and absence of a justified reason. Taxpayers must be notified and given 30 days to regularize the situation or present a defense before a definitive classification is made. The portaria also changes procedural handling: cases removed from CARF’s docket are automatically placed on the next DRJ‑R agenda, prior oral arguments are disregarded, and a new oral submission may be filed within the regulated deadlines.