The amount obtained by the service provider through the reimbursement of expenses with construction materials must be included in the calculation basis of the Corporate Income Tax (IRPJ) and the Social Contribution on Net Profit (CSLL), under the regime of taxation by presumed profit.
With this understanding, the First Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) upheld, unanimously, the second-instance decision that had rejected the request of a service provider company from Rio Grande do Norte.
In the proceedings, the company – specialized in carrying out civil engineering works – sought to have excluded from the collection of IRPJ and CSLL the amount relating to the return of amounts spent on the purchase of materials.
According to the company, the reimbursement of expenses by the contracting party could not be considered gross revenue for the purposes of the incidence of IRPJ and CSLL within the presumed profit system. This is because – it argued – such amounts do not result from the actual provision of services, but correspond to a reimbursement for having advanced the acquisition of the inputs necessary for the works.
Gross revenue
According to the rapporteur of the special appeal, Justice Gurgel de Faria, the legislation, the case law and the technical accounting standards establish that the concept of gross revenue subject to assessment by presumed profit encompasses all the resources earned by the legal entity.
“As a rule, gross revenue corresponds to financial inflows into the assets, arising or not from the development of business or professional activities, and which do not undergo deductions for any expenses or costs borne by the taxpayer”, he stated.
The Justice also emphasized that the legal system does not make any express mention as to the possibility of excluding the reimbursement of materials from the calculation basis of IRPJ and CSLL. “In the silence of the legislator, financial inflows determine an increase of a patrimonial order and, consequently, are subject to IRPJ and CSLL”, he explained.
In addition, Gurgel de Faria recalled that the regime of taxation by real profit allows deductions. “If the taxpayer intends that certain costs or expenses be considered, he must opt for the regime of assessment by real profit, which contemplates this possibility”.
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Source: STJ
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