In December of the year 2022, in a judgment conducted under the system of general repercussion (Extraordinary Appeal No. 816,830 - Theme 801), the Federal Supreme Court ("STF") ruled on the constitutionality of the contribution to SENAR, which applies to the gross revenue from the commercialization of rural production.

However, the STF did not analyze whether SENAR should also apply to the operations of rural production exports, which enjoy tax immunity according to article 149, §2, item I of the Federal Constitution. For this reason, a motion for clarification was filed, which will be judged in a virtual session starting this Friday (June 2, 2023).

We understand that there is a possibility that the STF will conclude in favor of exempting export revenues, as was the case in Extraordinary Appeal No. 759,244 (Theme 674 of general repercussion) - in which it was decided that tax immunity should be broad for exports - since this measure not only derives from the Federal Constitution but also plays an important role in maintaining the competitiveness of the national agribusiness. In this scenario, we recommend that rural producers and agribusinesses engaged in export operations file a legal action to discuss the applicability of SENAR to export operations by this Friday, considering the risk of potential decision modulation, which would prevent the recovery of improperly paid amounts in the past 5 years.

By Henrique Erbolato