Update (04/14/2021) – GS
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In early June, President Jair Bolsonaro (non-party) revealed that he was preparing a further 10% reduction in the IPI rate applied to electronic games, as a way to further heat up this market.
This week, during a ceremony at the Palácio do Planalto, the president confirmed a reduction in diesel taxes and revealed that he plans to authorize another reduction in import taxes on electronic games.
According to Bolsonaro, it is easier to reduce taxes in this category, as compensation is not necessary in the fall in public coffers, as it is an import tax.
Some complain: lower the tax on something else. To download something else, you have to have a compensating source. Games, as it is a resource that comes from import tax, you don’t have to find an alternative source for that.
The President did not provide a forecast for the further reduction or what rate will be applied.
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Original text – 04/06/2021
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Even though Brazilian inflation is severe and many items essential for survival are being sold at exorbitant prices, many consumers are still managing to buy products that are considered superfluous, such as games and video game consoles.
As an incentive for this market, President Jair Bolsonaro should announce a new reduction in the rate of the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI) levied on video games.
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According to information from the Political Connection website, the decree that provides for a further 10% reduction is already being prepared and will be published in the Federal Official Gazette (DOU) shortly.
Last year, Bolsonaro ordered the reduction of taxes from 40% to 30% on consoles and gaming machines; from 32% to 22% for parts and accessories for video game consoles and machines, whose images are reproduced on a screen; from 16% to 6% for video game machines with built-in screen, portable or not, and parts thereof.
We cannot deny that the technology sector as a whole, including video games, had a huge increase in the last year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, something that was reflected in a worldwide shortage of electronic components and resulted in a low availability of products in the stores, including the coveted PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X.
When the reduction in the IPI rate was announced last year, Sony Brazil revealed that the official PlayStation 5 prices would be R$ 4,199 in the version without a Blu-Ray player and R$ 4,699 in the version with a reader, while the prices of the Xbox Series S is R$2,799 and Series X is R$4,599.
With the new reduction, new official prices must be announced, however, these values were almost impractical due to the lack of products in the market, causing many parallel retailers to offer the items at prices much higher than the official ones.
Do you think the new tax cut will increase sales of video game consoles and games?
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