Brazil consults on a Simplified ETR safe harbour for its domestic minimum tax

Brazil’s Federal Revenue Service (Receita Federal) has opened a public consultation on draft instructions that would add the OECD’s Simplified Effective Tax Rate Safe Harbour to the Additional CSLL regime. The official notice was published on 9 November 2026, while the proposal has been available for comment since 6 November. Comments are due by 16 November 2026.

The proposal is not enacted guidance. It would amend Normative Instruction RFB No. 2,228/2024, which administers Brazil’s Additional CSLL domestic minimum tax, and Normative Instruction RFB No. 1,520/2014, which governs taxation of profits earned abroad. The operative text is in Receita’s 26-page consultation annex.

A proposed zero-liability safe harbour from 2027

Article 1 of the proposed annex would allow an annual election for a tested jurisdiction. If the simplified effective tax rate is at least 15%, or the simplified calculation produces a loss, the Additional CSLL for that jurisdiction would be treated as zero. The election would apply only to fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

This is an administrative simplification and not a reduction of Brazil’s statutory 15% minimum rate. A group that does not satisfy the safe-harbour conditions would remain subject to the ordinary Additional CSLL calculation under Law No. 15,079/2024 and IN RFB No. 2,228/2024. The draft also makes clear that eligibility is tested annually.

Separate tested jurisdictions and financial-statement data

Article 2 would require separate tests for ordinary constituent entities, minority-owned subgroups or entities, eligible investment entities, stateless entities, joint-venture subgroups and joint ventures. An annual election could combine non-minority constituent entities with certain domestic investment entities only where the specified conditions are satisfied.

Articles 3 to 5 start from the financial statements already specified by Article 10 of IN RFB No. 2,228/2024. The draft then prescribes adjustments rather than accepting a group’s headline accounting effective tax rate. Those adjustments address, among other matters, dividend and equity-accounting items, permanent differences, reorganisation gains and losses, tax credits, deferred tax and entities treated as immaterial for consolidation purposes.

The draft contains its own integrity rules

The safe harbour would be unavailable in specified cases, including certain stateless and investment entities. Articles 49 to 52 also apply entry and re-entry restrictions and four integrity principles: income and tax must be matched; the full amount must be allocated; a loss must be recognised only once; and tax must be counted only once. These restrictions matter because the simplified computation is intended to reduce compliance work without allowing mismatched accounts or duplicated tax attributes to create relief.

Businesses should therefore treat the consultation as a proposal and identify which Brazilian and foreign entities would fall into each tested category. The final text could change after consultation, and Receita has not yet enacted the proposed 2027 election.