Inclusion of services within the scope of the Drawback and RECOF special customs regimes

Summary

On July 29, 2025, Complementary Law No. 216/2025 was published, which, among other changes, included services within the scope of the special customs regimes Drawback and RECOF.

The new regulation provides for the suspension of the PIS/Pasep and Cofins contributions, including PIS/Pasep-Import and Cofins-Import, applicable to the importation or domestic acquisition—whether combined or not—of services directly and exclusively linked to exports or associated with the delivery abroad of products resulting from the use by legal entities benefiting from the Drawback and RECOF regimes.

Changes to the Drawback regime take effect as of the publication date (July 29, 2025), but only for concession acts granted from January 1, 2023, onward.

For RECOF, the changes will be effective starting January 1, 2026.

Further details

As a general rule, the Drawback regime allows authorized companies to import or acquire goods in the domestic market with suspension of federal taxes, provided these goods are intended for the industrialization of products for export.

Complementary Law No. 216/2025 amended Law No. 11.945/2009 to include services within the scope of the Drawback regime, as regulated by SECEX Ordinance No. 418/2025 and Joint SECEX/RFB Ordinance No. 3/2025, both published on July 29, 2025.

Below, we highlight the key changes and points of attention:

• Services included: The suspension of federal taxes covers only the services listed in Annex I of the Brazilian Services Classification (“NBS”), which includes intermediation services in the distribution of goods abroad; goods storage services; road, rail, air, waterway, or multimodal cargo transportation services; express shipping services; operational leasing or container rental services; and installation and assembly services for exported goods.
• Limitations: The suspension does not apply (i) to concession acts by intermediate manufacturers; (ii) to services related to the export or delivery abroad of products sold to commercial export companies for the specific purpose of exporting abroad, when the burden of contracting the service does not fall on the legal entity holding the concessionary act; (iii) services related to the import or domestic purchase of goods used or consumed in the production of goods to be exported; (iv) services related to industrialization, even if carried out to order, repair, creation, cultivation, or extraction of products to be exported; (v) services acquired on the domestic market from legal entities opting for the “Simples Nacional” Program; and (vi) services related to products sent on consignment, in the event of no definitive sale abroad within the term of validity of the concession.
• Procedural Requirements: If the importation or domestic acquisition of services is expected, the applicant must identify the products to be exported under concession acts granted from January 1, 2023, to which the services are directly and exclusively linked. The act must describe the services to be acquired or imported, properly classified under NBS codes. Until the regime is concluded, documentation proving the nature of the service contract may be required, such as service agreements and commercial invoices.
• Deadline: The importation or domestic acquisition of services under the Drawback suspension regime must occur within the validity period of the concession act and be evidenced by an electronic service invoice, which must comply with regulatory requirements.