All about SPED
Part of the federal initiative to enhance the Brazilian growth (PAC), SPED was created to integrate and modernize fiscal activities in the country by standardizing them and enhancing foreign investment.
Sistema Público de Escrituração Digital
SPED – Sistema Público de Escrituração Digital -, was created to standardize and computerize the relationship between the tax authorities and the tax payers. SPED consists of the modernization of the current procedures used to duties compliance transferred from the tax payers to the regulatory agencies. The signature of the document is made through a digital certification that restricts the juridical validation of the document to its digital form.
The system started to be developed in the year 2000 and was part of an initiative to modernize tax and customs administration. It began to be used by some companies in 2008 and in 2009 it was adopted by most companies taxed by Lucro Real.
The system represents an integrated initiative of the tax administration in the federal, state and municipal branches. It is composed by five major subprojects that will be approached bellow.
Nota Fiscal Eletrônica - NF-e
NF-e aims to implement a national model of electronic fiscal documents, replacing the system still present in some states in which these documents are still issued in paper.
The NF-e is a digital fiscal document issued and stored electronically. Its purpose is to document operations and benefits whose validity is guaranteed by the digital signature of the issuer and by the usage authorization issued by the tax administration of the taxpayer’s state prior to the taxable event.
Conhecimento de Transporte Eletrônico - CT-e
Just like NF-e, CT-e is a digital document issued and stored electronically. Its purpose is to document the rendering of cargo transportation services whose validity is guaranteed by the digital signature of the issuer and by the usage authorization issued by the tax administration of the taxpayer’s state prior the taxable event.
Escrituração Fiscal Digital - EFD
EFD is a digital file constituted by a set of registrations of fiscal documents and other information relevant to the tax authorities, as well as records of the calculation of taxes related to the operation and benefits practiced by the tax payer.
From its database, the company will generate a digital file presenting all the fiscal documents and other information that may be interesting to the tax authorities regarding the calculation period to ICMS and IPI. This document will be submitted to import and validation by PVA – Programa Validador e Assinador, provided by SPED.
Escrituração Contábil Digital - ECD
ECD – also known as Sped Contábil -, is the obligation of converting into digital documents the following books:
- Livro Diário and its auxiliaries;
- Livro Razão and its auxiliaries;
- Livros Balancetes Diários, Balanços and files that testity its registers.
Nota Fiscal de Serviços Eletrônica (NFS-e)
NFS-e is a digital document that is issued and stored electronically on national site by RFB (Federative Republic of Brazil), by the local government or by any third party. Its purpose is to register service rendering operations.
The project aims to improve the quality of tax administration by standardizing and improving the quality of information, rationalizing costs and proving a higher efficiency, as well as to enhance the competitiveness of Brazilian companies through the reduction of custo-Brasil, a term used to describe the set of structural, bureaucratic and economic difficulties that increase the costs of investing in Brazil. It also prevents the emission and storage of documents in paper.