International online purchases represent 0.5% of retail

International purchases over the internet represent 6.4% of sales via the internet. e-commerce and 0.5% of the movement of all Brazilian retail, according to a study by Tendências Consultoria, commissioned by the Alibaba Group, owner of AliExpress. Brazilian small-value e-commerce imports correspond to approximately R$1 billion per month.

E-commerce recorded total sales of R$187.1 billion in 2022, according to the National Electronic Commerce Observatory. The value represents 7.8% of retail sales, which totaled R$2.3 trillion.

The survey commissioned by the Chinese group seeks to influence Congress, which is discussing the review of tax exemptions for international purchases of up to US$50.

“Regarding the comparison between the tax burden paid by national and foreign producers, it is necessary to highlight the difficulty of this type of analysis. The Brazilian tax system is chaotic and complex, with a multitude of rules and specificities. Depending on the tax, the rates may vary depending on the municipality, state, type of product and, in some cases, even the method of acquisition and destination, in addition to the existence of special regimes”says the consultancy text.

According to Tendências, estimates of the decrease in revenue of national trading companies due to the price differential with imported goods “lack” economic basis.

“To properly assess this situation, details about the elasticities of the products analyzed would be necessary. Many of the imported products are superfluous and, in their absence, would not even be purchased”says the company.