How to issue a Nota Fiscal
Adopted by the population due to the prizes offered by the government, the Nota Fiscal issuance becomes an important tool to reduce tax evasion. Understand in this article why it is so important to issue a Nota Fiscal and what are the requirements for it.
A few years ago, the Brazilian government decided to change the process to issue a Nota Fiscal (Invoice), creating the Nota Fiscal Eletrônica , that is gradually replacing the previous model, reducing long-term costs as well as the waste of paper, once the new invoice is available online. In Brazil, if a trader does not provide his costumers with a nota fiscal, he will be considered to be a criminal.
As the new system of issuing the Brazilian Invoice will be adopted by the entire country's market, we have decided to make a guide to help you understanding how the new process works.
What is “Nota Fiscal Eletrônica” ?
The NF-e, as it is called by the government, is the same document Brazilians were used to issue, but now, the document is not printed, once all information are stored in an online system. Some benefits offered by the Nota Fiscal Eletrônica are:
- Reduction of the printing costs
- Incentive to e-commerce practices and to the usage of new technologies
- Reduction of storage costs, once the documents would be stored in digital files
To view the entire list of benefits related to Nota Fiscal Eletrônica , click here.
The NF-e is important to provide a better control about transactions by Secretaria da Fazenda or Sefaz -, which is the institution in charge of checking all the stages of the movement of goods, making use of the electronic files to make the surveillance process faster and safer.
How to issue a Nota Fiscal?
The first two documents required to the issuance of a nota fiscal are a Digital Certificate provided by companies linked to the government , and a Sefaz authorization from the state that your company belongs to.
The NF-e has the legal validity guaranteed by the signature type through the Digital Certificate, that is the legal recognition of the online invoice. There are some companies as Certisign and Serasa providing the Digital Certificate, you only have to choose the one that fits you better.
To get the Sefaz authorization from your state you have to access the NF-e website and make your requirement. Remember that you must have the e-CNPJ A1 (Digital Certification), as other models are not accepted by the online system yet and your requirement will be denied if it is not the e-CNPJ A1format.
After getting the registration and the Sefaz authorization you only have to choose a company that will host the software of the NF-e. Prices variate according to the number of NF-e your company plans to provide and the company you have chosen to host your software
Other Related Content
- How Nota Fiscal Paulista enforces Brazilian Tax policy
- The 16 Most Common Brazilian Taxes
- Why are the taxes in Brazil so high?
- Brazilian tax - Simples nacional