Brazil tax and customs regulation developments

Brazil has seen developments regarding tax regulations and customs procedures. New rules established by SINIEF 34/2026 and published by the National Council of Finance Policy (Confaz) modified how Electronic Invoices (NF-e) are handled when goods are refused or a recipient cannot be located. Under these rules, senders must issue an entry NF-e to nullify initial operations in cases of total refusal, while specific procedures apply to partial refusals depending on whether the recipient is an ICMS taxpayer.

In a separate legal development, the Brazilian Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region (TRF-1) ruled that the Union is prohibited from withholding imported goods to compel the payment of disputed tax differences if an administrative challenge has been filed. The court found that such challenges suspend the enforceability of tax credits, preventing customs officials from conditioning the release of merchandise on the payment of taxes currently under dispute regarding technical NCM (Mercosul Common Nomenclature) classification.