Recently, a false news spread on social media that the federal government and the Federal Revenue Service would tax financial transactions made via Pix. This left Brazilians very worried, and the terms "taxes" and "levies" associated with the word "Pix" were the most searched according to Google Trends. After the confusion, the Federal Revenue Service denied and clarified that Pix will not be taxed.
The false information began to gain traction after the Federal Revenue Service announcement that payment institutions must now notify monthly transfers exceeding R$ 5,000 for individuals and R$ 15,000 for legal entities. According to the government, the main goal of expanding the financial transaction monitoring service is to ensure security and transparency in processes, to prevent possible tax frauds. Furthermore, this protocol is not only valid for Pix but also for any financial modality in which a transfer of these amounts is made.
The new requirement from the Federal Revenue Service does not mean taxing Pix, but represents an advance in the security and transparency of financial transactions, which is essential to prevent increasingly frequent frauds. It is important to highlight that any charges related to transfers are under the jurisdiction of the Central Bank, and not the government, at this time. Furthermore, the planned innovations, such as automatic and proximity-based Pix, reinforce the continuous evolution of this system, which is essential for both users and companies, affirms LAyon Lopes, CEO of Silva Lopes Advogados.
Furthermore, the federal government assured that the recipient of the transfer will not be identified. According to the lawyer, with the evolution of digitalization, the government is increasingly concerned with keeping up with these changes, especially with the significant number of Pix users. On December 24th of last year, Pix set a record, surpassing 224 million transactions in a single day.
