ECONOMY
97 thousand Bahian companies with debts may be excluded from Simples Nacional; understand
MEIs with debt correspond to 7.1% of the total registered in Bahia
Published on October 22, 2024 at 05:00
Payments must be settled within 30 days Credit: Shutterstock/Reproduction
If you own a small business and are part of Simples Nacional, a program that unifies tax payments, you need to be careful. The Federal Revenue notified 97,528 Bahian entrepreneurs who have debts and may be excluded from the tax regime from next year. Debts must be paid within 30 days through the Simples Nacional portal or the Federal Revenue website. It is possible to pay in up to 60 installments.
Members of Simples Nacional have special tax conditions to maintain their small business. Social security contributions and payment of state and municipal taxes are unified, in addition to reducing the tax burden. However, to remain in the program you must fulfill a series of obligations, including keeping payments up to date. Anyone who has debts with the system will be excluded on January 1, 2025.
Individual microentrepreneurs (MEIs) pay a single monthly fee, which varies between R$71.60 and R$76.60, depending on the type of service. The contribution of micro-enterprises (ME) and small-sized companies (EPP) varies according to business revenue. All three types of enterprises can have access to Simples Nacional.
In Bahia, MEIs lead debts with the program. There were 60,209 individual microentrepreneurs notified between September 30th and October 4th. In Salvador, there were 22,160. Individual microentrepreneurs with debt in the state represent 7.2% of the total MEIs, which is 833,061.
Another 37,319 micro-enterprises and small businesses in Bahia have debts in the state, according to the Federal Revenue Service. The number corresponds to 3.1% of the total. Of these, 8,813 are registered in Salvador. Once the debt notification is made, small business owners have up to 30 days to settle their debts.
The exclusion terms were sent by the Electronic Tax Domicile of Simples Nacional (DTE-SN). The recipient has up to 45 days to open the communication or they will be excluded from the program. The debts that cause expulsion from Simples Nacional can be with the Federal Revenue or with the National Treasury Attorney’s Office, as explained by Claudemir Santos dos Anjos, tax analyst at the Revenue.
“These are debts from Simples Nacional itself, such as non-payment of one of this year’s installments or debts prior to the program. Before joining Simples Nacional, the taxpayer may have already been a real profit or presumed profit and had debts with income tax or social contribution”, he says. The tax regimes mentioned by Claudemir are recommended for companies with a profit of less than 32% (real) and an annual limit of R$78 million (assumed).
But it’s not just debts that can cause an entrepreneur to be excluded from the program. Other reasons include: exceeding the revenue limit and not reporting it to the IRS, engaging in activities that cannot be part of Simples Nacional or unduly including partners in the company.
The pending report can be accessed on the Simples Nacional portal or on the Federal Revenue e-CAC portal, via Gov. BR access. More than 1.8 million Brazilian companies that are part of the program are in default. Debts exceed R$26.7 billion.
What happens if you don’t pay the debt?
Anyone who does not regularize their financial situation this year will be excluded from the program. This happens because one of the prerequisites for joining Simples Nacional is not having debts. After exclusion, you can rejoin the system in January of each year. However, a fine-tooth comb is carried out to check whether the taxpayer has debts to the Union, states and municipalities.
In these cases, even non-payment of Motor Vehicle Ownership Tax (IPVA) may prevent entry into Simples Nacional. “The taxpayer’s return, in January of next year, will not only show pending issues with the Federal Revenue Service, but also outstanding debts with states and municipalities”, says Claudemir Santos. Requests to enter the program can only be made in January of each month.
“The MEI that has debts is considered unfit and will have difficulties issuing invoices and maintaining a legal entity account in a bank. In the case of micro and small companies, the CNPJ may be suspended, they will not be able to carry out bank transactions and access lines of credit , in addition to being prevented from making contracts with the public administration”, explains Adriana Pereira, technical analyst at the Brazilian Micro and Small Business Support Service (Sebrae) in Salvador.
Joining Simples Nacional is only permitted for those who are MEI, owner of a micro-business (annual income of up to R$360 thousand and a maximum of nine employees) or owner of a small business (annual revenue of up to R$3.6 million). Check out the main questions about the program below.
What happens if the taxpayer opting for Simples Nacional has debt?
You will be subject to receiving from the Special Secretariat of the Federal Revenue an exclusion message formalizing the tax authorities’ intention to promote the exclusion of this taxpayer from Simples Nacional. In the body of this exclusion message there will be two links to access: the “Access to the term” link, where the Exclusion Term will be opened, and the link to the “Pending Report”, a document in which all debts required by the contributor to the Federal Public Treasury.
What is the Simples Nacional Electronic Tax Domicile (DTE-SN)?
DTE-SN is an electronic mailbox, available on the Simples Nacional Portal, which allows taxpayers opting for Simples Nacional to consult electronic communications made available by the tax administration bodies of the Union (RFB), states and municipalities.
How long does the taxpayer have to regularize all the debts included in the Pending Report and not be excluded from Simples Nacional?
The totality of the debts contained in the Pending Report within 30 days of being aware of the Exclusion Term. If the taxpayer does not consult the content of the Exclusion Term within 45 days from the date of availability, he may be excluded.
What happens if the taxpayer pays off all his debts within 30 days?
The exclusion term will be canceled and the taxpayer will not be excluded from Simples Nacional.
Will taxpayers excluded from Simples Nacional be able to request entry into the program in January 2025?
Yes. There is no legal impediment for the taxpayer to request a new option in January 2025, at which time new pending checks will be carried out. However, it will not be possible to request a new option if you have challenged the exclusion term, as this action suspends the exclusion and the taxpayer remains opting for the regime until there is a final decision, which may even be unfavorable to the taxpayer.
What to do if the taxpayer deletes the message containing the exclusion term and the pending report from the DTE-SN?
The taxpayer must request a duplicate of the Exclusion Term and the Pending Report in RFB Chat, accessed through e-CAC (see how to access the Portal in question 10). In the “Others” menu, select “Services available via Chat” > “Tax Adjustment” > “Regularize Simples Nacional and MEI debts”.
