Resposta da Shopee sobre intenções de Haddad surpreende brasileiros

Shopee, a retailer from Singapore’s Sea Group, recently addressed the developments regarding taxation of purchases made on international websites. The company sent a letter to Brazil’s Ministry of Finance to agree with the change proposed by Minister Fernando Haddad.

According to the company, its directors are in agreement with the plan to end the exemption for packages valued at up to $50. This position surprised the Brazilian government and consumers.

“The most recent policy announced about import taxes on low-value products is completely aligned with Shopee’s mission to promote local products and entrepreneurship. We fully support this decision,” stated Shopee.

“More than 60,000 sellers have already received training from Shopee. In this context, we seek dialogue with various government agencies to establish partnerships aimed at training small entrepreneurs,” the company added.

The document was delivered to Haddad before the government’s decision to maintain the current exemption, but it did not appear to have been decisive. At the beginning of the last week, at the request of President Lula, the Ministry abandoned the taxation plans announced a few days before.

The controversy arose after the ministry announced that it would end tax exemptions on packages of up to $50 sent from one individual to another. The government believes that foreign companies, especially those from Asia, send products as if they were individuals to take advantage of the loophole.

The Federal Revenue Service considers this measure important to prevent tax evasion, particularly since it does not have enough officials to inspect all purchases that arrive in Brazil.

Discussions even involved the first lady, Janja Silva, who supported Haddad’s position on her social media, stating that the taxation would “only be for the company, not for the consumer”. Her post was met with a flood of criticism from internet users who pointed out that the effect would be an increase in product prices.

After deciding to maintain the exemption, the government has a few possible options to consider. One is to increase inspections at Federal Revenue Service posts, which would require the hiring of more workers and likely result in increased prices charged by Asian companies.

Another scenario is to keep the rules as they are, which would not have significant impacts on the consumer. However, the pressure from national retailers could increase if the Executive decision is to remain inactive.