How Brazil's import taxes cascade

This page sets out the sequence, the base for each tax, and the rates verified on 7 September 2026. It also records where published sources disagree with each other, because on two of these figures they do.

The short answer

Six charges apply to a typical commercial import: the import duty (II), IPI, PIS and COFINS on imports, ICMS, the merchant marine charge (AFRMM) on sea freight, and the Siscomex fee. II feeds the base of IPI and of ICMS. PIS and COFINS are charged on the customs value alone. ICMS is grossed up, meaning it is calculated on a base that includes the ICMS itself.

A duty cut therefore does not reduce your cost by the amount of the cut. It reduces II, and through II a small part of IPI and ICMS, while leaving PIS, COFINS, AFRMM and the Siscomex fee where they were.

The order of calculation

1. Customs value, which includes the goods, international freight, insurance and terminal handling at arrival.
2. II, charged on the customs value.
3. IPI, charged on customs value plus II.
4. PIS and COFINS on imports, each charged on the customs value. Neither includes II or IPI in its base.
5. ICMS, charged on a grossed up base that includes everything above plus customs expenses.
6. AFRMM on the international sea freight, and the Siscomex fee per declaration. Neither depends on the goods' value.

Import duty (II)

The rate comes from the Mercosur common external tariff and depends on the NCM code. Rates verified on four codes on 7 September 2026 through Portal Único Siscomex:

NCM	Description	II
8413.70.90	Other centrifugal pumps	12.60%
2204.29.10	Wines	18.00%
3304.10.00	Lip make-up	16.20%
1806.31.10	Filled chocolate	18.00%

Two cautions. First, the portal states that displayed values are indicative and that the binding rate is the one determined when the declaration is registered. Second, rates change through acts of Gecex and Camex several times a year, so a rate without a date on it is not usable.

IPI

IPI is a federal excise charged on customs value plus II. The rate comes from the TIPI table and varies by product, sometimes within the same code.

Verified rates for the same four codes, derived from the official customs simulator by dividing the IPI charged by the base it was charged on:

NCM	IPI charged per R$ 100 of customs value	Base	Implied rate
8413.70.90	0.00	112.60	0%
2204.29.10	7.67	118.00	6.50%
3304.10.00	16.61	116.20	14.29%
1806.31.10	3.83	118.00	3.25%

The rates in the last column are derived from figures the simulator rounds to two decimal places, so they can sit a hundredth of a point off the rate written in the TIPI table. Use them as a check, not as the tariff source.

Wine is a good example of why a single rate per code is not always enough. The simulator requires a mandatory field distinguishing madeira, port and sherry from everything else, and the rate above applies to the second group.

PIS and COFINS on imports

Both are charged on the customs value. Neither base includes II or IPI, which is why a duty reduction does nothing to them.

Standard rates under article 8 of Lei 10.865/2004 are 2.1% for PIS and 9.65% for COFINS, 11.75% combined.

Perfumery and cosmetics run a separate single stage regime under article 8 §2 of the same law, as amended by Lei 13.137/2015: PIS 3.52% and COFINS 16.48%, 20.00% combined. The wording covers goods "classificados nas posições 3303.00 a 33.07, exceto na posição 33.06", plus codes 3401.11.90 with an exception, 3401.20.10 and 9603.21.00.

A temporary COFINS surcharge also applies to a list of codes. Lei 14.973/2024 set it at 0.8% for 2025, 0.6% for 2026 and 0.4% for 2027. On code 8413.70.90 the simulator returns COFINS of 10.25%, which is the standard 9.65% plus the 0.6% applying this year.

ICMS and the gross up

ICMS is a state tax, and it is the largest single line in most import tax bills. It is calculated "por dentro", which means the tax forms part of its own base:

ICMS base = (customs value + II + IPI + PIS + COFINS + customs expenses) / (1 - ICMS rate) ICMS = ICMS base * ICMS rate

At a 25% rate, dividing by 0.75 raises the base by a third before the rate is applied. The effective burden is meaningfully higher than the nominal rate suggests.

Rates depend on the state and on the product category. São Paulo charges 18% as its standard internal rate and 25% on the category it classifies as supérfluos, which includes wine, spirits, perfumery and cosmetics. Rio de Janeiro charges 16% plus a 2% state fund contribution (FECP), 18% total, on the general import rate, and 37% plus 2% FECP, 39% total, on the supérfluos category (Lei 2.657/1996 art. 14 IV and VII). A handful of NCM codes are carved out of the RJ supérfluos band, including lip products 3304.10.00 and shampoo 3305.10.00 (Decreto RJ 47.032/2020), which pay the general 18% rate instead of 39%. The state comparison is on a separate page.

AFRMM and the Siscomex fee

AFRMM funds the Brazilian merchant marine and applies to international sea freight, not to the value of the goods. Air and land shipments do not pay it.

The rate is 8% for long haul navigation and 8% for cabotage, per the Ministry of Ports and Airports. River and lake transport of liquid bulk in the North and Northeast is 40%. The page cites Decreto-Lei 2.404/1987 as the legal basis and does not state when the current rates took effect.

The Siscomex fee is administrative and charged per declaration plus per adição (addition), not per item or SKU. An adição groups goods sharing the same NCM, exporter, manufacturer, application, valuation method, Incoterm and similar attributes; twenty models from one factory under one NCM count as one addition, while twenty different NCMs from different factories count as twenty. The fee is R$ 115.67 per declaration (DI or Duimp) plus a sliding scale per addition: R$ 38.56 for the 1st-2nd, R$ 30.85 for the 3rd-5th, R$ 23.14 for the 6th-10th, R$ 15.42 for the 11th-20th, R$ 7.71 for the 21st-50th, R$ 3.86 from the 51st onward. A declaration with one addition costs R$ 154.23; with two additions, R$ 192.79. Duimp has no additions as such, but the system groups items by the same attributes only to compute the fee.

What a worked calculation looks like

Using the official simulator with a German origin and a customs value of R$ 100.00, on 7 September 2026:

NCM	II	IPI	PIS	COFINS
8413.70.90	12.60	0.00	2.10	10.25
2204.29.10	18.00	7.67	2.10	9.65
3304.10.00	16.20	16.61	3.52	16.48
1806.31.10	18.00	3.83	2.10	9.65

ICMS, AFRMM and the Siscomex fee sit outside that simulation. Add them and, for the cosmetics line in a state charging the supérfluos rate, the total charged on top of customs value is a large multiple of the duty itself.

Where published sources disagree

Three figures on this page are quoted differently across the trade advisory sites that rank for these terms. Both values circulate, neither side links to the act, and an importer who copies the wrong one will misprice a shipment.

Figure	One published value	Another published value	What the primary source says
AFRMM, long haul	25% of sea freight	8% of sea freight	The Ministry of Ports and Airports page gives 8% for long haul and cabotage. The 25% figure is out of date.
Siscomex fee	R$ 185.00	R$ 154.23	R$ 115.67 per declaration plus R$ 38.56 per addition, R$ 154.23 for one addition. The Receita page still showing R$ 185.00 / R$ 29.50 has not been updated since 17 September 2019; the current rule is Portaria ME 4.131/2021 and IN RFB 2.024/2021, in force since 1 June 2021.
ICMS range	17% to 20%	17% to 22%	Neither range captures the supérfluos bands, which reach 25% in São Paulo and 39% in Rio de Janeiro, nor the fact that 22% is Rio de Janeiro's internal sales rate, not its import rate (18% on import).

The 2011 increase in the Siscomex fee was also examined by the Supreme Federal Court in RE 1.258.934 RG, decided on 28 April 2020. We have the case reference and the date but have not read the decision itself, so we are not characterising the outcome here.

We publish the discrepancy rather than picking a side quietly, because the underlying problem is not which number is right. It is that these figures are republished for years without a date or a link, and the reader has no way to tell a current rate from an expired one.

What this calculation does not include

Substitution tax. For goods sold on through retail, states often apply ICMS substituição tributária, collecting tax up front on an assumed retail margin. It sits on top of everything above and is not in any of these figures.

Existing exemptions. Capital goods without a domestic equivalent may enter at 0% duty through the ex-tarifário regime. Where that applies, the duty line is already zero before any trade agreement is considered.

The binding calculation. Everything here is a reference figure. The rate that governs is the one determined when the import declaration is registered, and the customs system itself says so.

Sources

• Applied import duty, IPI, PIS and COFINS by NCM code: Portal Único Siscomex, Classif module, tax treatment simulator, German origin, customs value R$ 100.00, query date 7 September 2026. The portal states that displayed values are indicative and the binding rate is determined at declaration.
• PIS and COFINS rates, and the single stage regime for perfumery and cosmetics: Lei 10.865/2004, article 8, items I and II and §2, as amended by Lei 13.137/2015.
• COFINS surcharge schedule for 2025 to 2027: Lei 14.973/2024, amending article 8 of Lei 10.865/2004.
• AFRMM rates: Ministério de Portos e Aeroportos, gov.br. The page cites Decreto-Lei 2.404/1987 and does not state an effective date for the current rates.
• Siscomex fee: Portaria ME 4.131/2021 (DOU) and IN RFB 2.024/2021, which rewrote article 13 of IN SRF 680/2006, in force since 1 June 2021; legal basis Lei 9.716/1998 art. 3. Supreme Federal Court case on the 2011 increase: RE 1.258.934 RG, decided 28 April 2020. Reference and date only; the decision itself was not read.
• ICMS rates: RICMS/SP, Decreto 45.490/2000, articles 52 and 55; for Rio de Janeiro, Lei 2.657/1996 article 14 IV (general import rate) and VII (supérfluos), with the state fund contribution (FECP) under LC RJ 210/2023, and Decreto RJ 47.032/2020 for the lip products and shampoo carve-out.

Rates on this page were verified on 24 September 2026. Brazilian import tax rates change several times a year. Check the date before using any figure here.