Customs penalties in Brazil: latest developments

A short presentation from CustomsClear's 30th Authors' Meeting in which Leonardo Macedo, Counsellor at Brazil's Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (CARF), unpacks a Brazilian Superior Tribunal of Justice ruling that reclassifies customs infractions as either administrative or tax-related — a distinction directly relevant to customs and trade compliance professionals working with penalty regimes and limitation periods.

Topics covered:

• The Superior Tribunal of Justice ruling separating customs infractions into "administrative" and "tax" categories
• The three-year administrative extinctive prescription (statute of limitations) and Brazil's two-level administrative appeal system
• Why classification as administrative vs tax changes whether a three-year time bar applies
• The practical challenge of reclassifying around 90 types of customs penalties before the ruling enters into force
• Knock-on effects of the classification for tax collection, administrative enforcement, and criminal/penal liability
• Whether similar administrative-vs-tax classification dilemmas may arise in other jurisdictions

For a broader overview of the topic, please watch the full recording. The slides are available in the Resources section.

Please note that this summary was generated using AI, based on the recording and available slides.