E-invoicing in Brazil. It isn’t a walk in the park. The Brazilian tax authority, also known as SEFAZ, rules with a mailed fist, imposing a defined electronic standard format that all companies have to abide by. Want to be tax compliant? The “Nota Fiscal Eletrônica” (NF-e) is the only way to go in Brazil. Well, at least the Brazilian government doesn’t lag behind the global developments. That certainly can’t be said for a number of European countries…
This post is part of a series of items on electronic invoicing in the Americas, brought to you by InvoiceWare. Please visit the profile page of InvoiceWare for an overview.
E-invoicing in Brazil: the basics
There are only a few basic requirements for electronic invoicing in Brazil:
- Real time integration with Brazilian Tax Authority (SEFAZ).
- Invoices have to be registered and approved before goods are transported.
- Printed DANF-e (Documento Auxiliar da Nota Fiscal Eletrônica) has to accompany goods in transit for validation en route.
- NF-e has to be received electronically by recipient in advance. Must be validated and any returns accounted for via “return order process”.
- Each outbound e-invoicing solution has to provide for inbound processing as well.
- Inbound validation required by law, and new 2012 mandates for incorporating with SPED (Sistema Publico de Escrituração Digital).
- Transportation Invoices (CT-e) become mandatory starting in September 2012.
The 7 Brazilian steps for the shipment of physical goods
Hm, maybe these abovementioned requirements aren’t that “basic” after all. You have to take a whopping 7 steps to ensure your compliance with these requirements. Hopefully the visual representation of the process will make things less vague. We wish you all the best of luck. Here goes:
- Vendor must be able to produce the appropriate XML approval document from their ERP system
- SEFAZ in real time will validate and assign NFe which must be posted back to ERP prior to release of goods
- DANF-e, a paper representation, is printed and attached to shipment, invoice is traditionally sent to buyer as well via electronic means
- Government officials including Customs agents and patrolling police have real time access to validity of shipment by scanning the DANF-e. If shipment doesn’t match released NF-e by SEFAZ, server penalties can be imposed
- Buyer receives goods and checks in at unloading dock
- Merchant receives goods and does a NF-e check with the SEFAZ
- Receipt of Goods Conformation is sent by receiver to close out transaction with SEFAZ
