Understand what “fake” is and what is fact about the change in transfers via Pix

Recently, the fake news circulated on social networks that the federal government and the IRS would tax financial transactions made via Pix. This left Brazilians very concerned, and the terms “impostos” associated with the word “Pix” were the most sought after according to Google Trends. After the confusion, the IRS denied and clarified that Pix will not be taxed.

The false information began to gain strength after the announcement of the IRS that payment institutions should, from now on, notify monthly transfers made above R$ 5 thousand for individuals and R$ 15 thousand for legal entities. According to the government, the main objective with the expansion of the financial transaction monitoring service is to ensure security and transparency in processes, to contain possible tax fraud. In addition, this protocol is not only valid for Pix, but also for any financial modality in which a transfer is made in these amounts. 

The new requirement of the IRS does not mean the taxation of Pix, but represents an advance in the security and transparency of financial transactions, which is fundamental to prevent fraud, increasingly frequent. It is important to highlight that any charges on transfers are in the purview of the Central Bank, and not the government at this time. In addition, the innovations foreseen, such as the automatic Pix and by approximation, reinforce the continuous evolution of this system, essential for both users and companies, says LAyon Lopes, CEO of Silva Lopes Advogados. 

In addition, the federal government has assured that it will not be identified to whom the transfer was sent. According to the lawyer, with the evolution of digitization, the government is increasingly concerned about following these changes, especially with the expressive number of Pix users. On December 24 last year, Pix broke a record and surpassed the mark of 224 million transactions carried out in a day.