Siscoserv: what it is, requirement, deadlines, fines and penalties

What is Siscoserv?

Siscoserv is a computerized system developed to record information of marketing services operations, intangible and other operations that produce variations in entities’ equity of resident or domiciled abroad, among which the export and import operations services.

The responsibility for Siscoserv is divided between the of Commerce and Services Secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (SCS/MDIC) and the Federal Revenue of Brazil Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance (RFB/MF), and its use is through two modules:

1) Selling Module (Módulo Venda)

It was designed to residents or those domiciled abroad to record services sale, intangible assets and others operations that produce changes in equity to residents or domiciled in Brazil. The information is divided between the Registro de Venda de Serviço – RVS(Service Sales Record) and Registro de Faturamento – RF (Invoicing Record, complementing RVS).

In this module, the Commercial Presence Record - RPC, for transactions carried out through commercial presence abroad.

2) Acquisition Module (Módulo de Aquisição)

It is intended to record service, intangible and other operations information that produce changes in equity acquired by residents or domiciled in Brazil from residents or domiciled abroad. The entries are recorded at Registro de Aquisição de Serviço – RAS (Service Purchase Record) and Registro de Pagamento – RP (Pay Record, complementing RAS).

Who is required to register at Siscoserv

• The service provider or hiring residing or domiciled in Brazil;
• The individual or legal entity, resident or domiciled in Brazil, who transfers or acquires the intangible, including intellectual property rights, through assignment, concession, licensing or by any other means provided for in law;

• The individual or legal entity or legal representative of the depersonalized entity, resident or domiciled in Brazil, that carries out other operations that produce changes in equity.

In addition to the information on the aforementioned transactions, Siscoserv receives information on export and import services operations, intangibles and other operations; and operations carried out through commercial presence abroad related to the legal entity domiciled in Brazil.

Who is not required to register at Siscoserv

The taxpayers that are exempted from registering information in Siscoserv:

• legal entity opting for Single or Individual Micro entrepreneur (MEI) that has not used public mechanisms for supporting foreign trade;
• individual with no economic activity overseas and does not exceed the legal limit of USD 30,000.00 or the equivalent in another currency per month.

Note: Transactions involving import or export of physical assets registered at Integrated System of Foreign Trade (Sistema Integrado de Comércio Exterior - “Siscomex”), are not registered in Siscoserv.

Siscoserv: deadline for registration

From August 2012, an implementation schedule was implemented, based on services listed in the Brazilian Services Nomenclature (Nomenclatura Brasileira de Serviços - “NBS”), whose mandatory start date varies according to the service.

The deadlines for registration are:

• by December 31, 2013: the last business day of the sixth (6th) month following the service provision beginning date, the sale of intangible or of the operation that produces variation in individuals, legal or depersonalized entities’ equity;

• from January 1, 2014: the last business day of the third (3rd) month following the service provision beginning date, sale of intangible, or operation that produces variation in individuals, legal persons or depersonalized entities’ equity.

• Commercial Presence Record, from 2014: compared to the previous calendar year, by the last working day of June of the year following the completion of the transactions.

Fines and Penalties

The taxable person, who fails to provide the information or submits it with inaccuracies or omissions, the RFB will summon to file them or to provide clarifications within the established period and should proceed with the following fines:

• Extemporaneous presentation by:

a) BRL 500.00 (five hundred Brazilian Reais), per calendar month or fraction, for legal entities that are in the beginning of activity or are immune or exempt or that, in the last filed statement, have assessed presumed profit or have opted for the Simples Nacional;

b) BRL 1,500.00 (one thousand five hundred Brazilian Reais), per calendar month or fraction, for other legal entities;

c) BRL 100.00 (one hundred Brazilian Reais), per calendar month or fraction, for individuals.

• nonobservance to RFB to fulfill with summons or ancillary obligation to provide information within the deadline established by tax authority: BRL 500.00 (five hundred Brazilian Reais) per calendar month (reducing in 70% for opting Simples Nacional); and

• fulfilling an ancillary obligation with inaccurate, incomplete or omitted information (reducing in 70% for opting Simples Nacional):

a) 3% (three percent), not less than BRL 100.00 (one hundred Brazilian Reais), of commercial or financial transactions value, of the legal entity or third parties for which it is tax responsible;

b) 1.5% (one and five tenths percent), not less than BRL 50.00 (fifty Brazilian Reais), of commercial or financial transactions value, of the individual or third parties for which it is tax responsible.

It is noteworthy that penalties may be applied concurrently. In addition, companies that fail to comply with the Siscoserv obligations may lose their framework in tax incentive programs.