Post by account_disabled on Mar 12, 2024 4:02:28 GMT -5
It is lawful for a trader in good faith to take advantage of ICMS credits resulting from an invoice subsequently declared unsuitable, when the veracity of the purchase and sale is demonstrated. With this understanding, judge Gabriela Muller Carioba Attanasio, from the Public Finance Court of São Carlos (SP), annulled a notice of infraction and imposition of a fine from a recycling company for alleged ICMS debt.
123RF Good faith trader can take advantage of invoice that is later disreputable
It appears from the records that the Tax Authorities considered the supplier that issued the invoice (a plastics industry) to be unreputable and held the recycling company responsible for maintaining such a commercial relationship. The credit borrower went to court, arguing that the assessment would be undue, given its good faith, with the effective acquisition and payment of the goods.
The Treasury of the State of Portugal Mobile Number List São Paulo, in turn, claimed that the author did not demonstrate, materially, that there was an effective practice of legal transactions with the plastics industry, and, even when she became unequivocally aware of the company's irregularity, she would have maintained commercial relations with it, and there is no need to speak of good faith.
However, the judge stated that the existing documentation in the case proves that the supplier's declaration of unsuitability occurred after the purchase of the goods. She noted that the declaration of unsuitability operates from the formal and official publication to, from then on, generate the intended legal effects.
"It is true that the invalidity of transactions embodied in invoices can be decreed with retroactive effect, as long as they are riddled with illegality in their origin. However, third parties who are not in a position to investigate irregularities eventually perpetrated by their commercial partners, as is the case of the author, cannot be harmed by a subsequent decision of the administration", he said.
Regarding the existence of the operation, the judge highlighted that the expert report is clear in the sense that the transactions were effectively carried out, and, at the time of the acquisitions, the author and the seller were regularly registered. Furthermore, she stated, the goods receipt tax documents are in accordance with the documents issued by the supplier, with the due payments.
"It appears, then, that, in the present case, there is sufficient documentary proof that the plaintiff company acquired, received and paid for the goods coming from the company. Therefore, the effective carrying out of purchase and sale operations with the company declared unsuitable has been demonstrated by the Tax Authorities and the good faith of the author was characterized, the fine was undue, as well as the principal, as it could take advantage of the ICMS credits resulting from the operation", concluded the judge.