This article is about Brazilian tax law. Split payment is the withholding of IBS and CBS — the two new taxes created by Brazil's tax reform — at the moment a payment settles: the payment method itself (Pix, card machine) separates the tax before the money reaches the store's account. It creates no new tax and does not touch the rate; it changes when the money leaves your till. In August 2026 the Brazilian federal tax authority said the business-to-business obligation is expected only in 2028, with gradual and optional adoption in 2027. For a store owner, that means time to prepare — and the lever that remains in the short term is selling more to the customer who is already inside the store.
What split payment is, in a store owner's words
Today a Brazilian store receives the full sale amount and remits the tax later, when the period closes. With split payment, the tax share is separated along the way: before the money lands in the store's account, the payment service provider itself withholds the IBS and the CBS due on that transaction and remits it.
This is not interpretation. It is in Complementary Law No. 214 of January 16, 2025, which regulates the IBS and the CBS.
- Article 27, III — an IBS and CBS liability may be settled by "withholding at the financial settlement of the transaction (split payment)".
- Article 31 — electronic payment service providers and payment system operators must segregate and remit IBS and CBS to the IBS Managing Committee and to the federal tax authority at the moment the transaction settles.
- Article 32 — under the standard procedure, before releasing funds to the supplier the payment provider queries the system of the IBS Managing Committee and the tax authority and withholds exactly what is still due on that transaction.
- Article 33 (wording of Complementary Law 227/2026) — there is also a simplified procedure, and it is optional, using a pre-set percentage instead of a transaction-by-transaction query.
What changes (and what does not) in your cash flow
The most common confusion is to read split payment as "a new tax on Pix". It is not. It is a collection method — one of the settlement methods listed in article 27. The rate comes from a different part of the reform; split payment only defines who withholds and when.
| In your store | How it works today | How it works with split payment |
|---|---|---|
| What reaches the account | The full sale amount | The amount already net of the IBS and CBS on that sale |
| When the tax leaves | Later, when the period is remitted | At the instant the payment settles |
| Who withholds | The company itself, at assessment | The payment service provider (article 31) |
| How much tax | Unchanged by split payment — it depends on the IBS and CBS rates | |
| Practical effect | Cash flow: the tax money stops circulating in your working capital between the sale and the remittance | |
For a business with comfortable working capital this is an accounting detail. For small retail, which uses this week's revenue to pay next week's supplier, it is a change in financial routine worth discussing early — with an accountant, not with the internet.
The timeline: what already applies, what is still being regulated
This is where most content on the subject goes wrong, because it mixes two different things: when the mechanism takes effect in the law and when it becomes mandatory. Those are separate dates.
2026 — the mechanism already exists, but the year is a test
Complementary Law 214/2025 is already in effect, and with it articles 31 to 35. But 2026 was designed as a light transition year: article 343 sets the IBS at 0.1% and article 346 sets the CBS at 0.9% for the year's taxable events — and article 348 requires the IBS and CBS collected in 2026 to be offset against PIS and Cofins for the same assessment period (or offset against another federal tax, or refunded).
2027 — the CBS starts for real, split payment is still not mandatory
From January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2028, article 344 charges the IBS at 0.05% state plus 0.05% municipal, and article 347 applies the CBS reference rate. Under article 349, I, that reference rate is set by a resolution of the Brazilian Senate — until it is published, any percentage in circulation is a third-party estimate, and this article will not repeat one.
As for split payment specifically, in August 2026 the Brazilian federal tax authority said the platform should be ready in early 2027, with gradual and optional adoption in business-to-business transactions — both models, split payment and traditional remittance, may coexist during rollout.
2028 — the date the tax authority expects for the obligation
The obligation in business-to-business transactions is expected in 2028, once every payment method covered is ready. The information was released on August 30, 2026 and can be checked in InfoMoney's report and in Poder360 (both in Portuguese).
The lever that remains: revenue per customer already inside the store
Put the two ends together: the rate is not negotiable, and the moment the money leaves is decided outside your store. If the margin per sale gets tighter and fixed costs do not fall with it, one short-term lever is left that depends only on you — selling more per visit.
That is the difference between fighting for more people through the door (expensive, slow, media-dependent) and improving what happens with those already inside: the bundle instead of the single item, the counter add-on, the higher-value product, the item the customer did not know you sold. It has a name — upselling at the point of sale, with sales triggers — and it has stopped being an extra.
In food service the most direct example is the digital menu board for a coffee shop, which sells the fancy-named item customers are embarrassed to ask about. And the build matters as much as the content: it is worth understanding how long the Indoor TV loop should be, because a badly sized playlist never finishes its message before the customer leaves.
This is not the first regulatory change to squeeze Brazilian retail from the outside. The other side of the same coin is the end of the 6x1 shift and the drop in staffed hours in the store — there the pressure is labour-related, here it is fiscal, and the commercial answer ends up looking similar.
Where Indoor TV fits (and where it does not)
This is the part worth being explicit about, because the subject is the reader's money.
Where it fits
- Ticket per visit. The screen shows the bundle, the add-on and the higher-value item at the moment the customer is deciding — in the queue, at the counter, while waiting.
- Moving stock that sits still. A product nobody asks for because nobody sees it gets a fixed slot in the playlist.
- Standardising the offer. The suggestion no longer depends on staff remembering it (or being free), which also helps train and align the retail team.
- The cost of a dark screen. Worth remembering that a switched-off screen is a silent loss: the asset is there and communicates nothing.
Where it does not fit — spelled out
- It does not reduce tax. No screen has any relationship with taxation.
- It does not change a rate, nor bring forward, defer or offset any remittance.
- It does not replace an accountant. Tax planning and working capital are conversations with a qualified professional.
- It does not solve working capital. It helps on revenue; the financial structure is a different problem, and it stays yours.
That said, it is fair to recognise the size of the thing: point-of-sale communication is a commercial lever, and it acts on the one variable still entirely in your hands.
How to start
JMV Indoor's Indoor TV runs on a regular Smart TV connected to the internet — no kiosk, no USB stick, no dedicated box — and the playlist is managed from a phone. Current plan prices are always up to date on the plans table.
There is a 30-day free trial, with 1 screen, no credit card and no lock-in. If your plan for 2027 and 2028 includes working revenue per visit harder, you can test the idea in your own store before the change arrives. Indoor TV is a form of digital signage applied to the point of sale.
Want to use the coming months to prepare?
Start the 30-day free trial and build your screen's communication with no commitment. Prefer to hear the conversation behind this article? Watch the full Café & Tech episode (in Portuguese) on YouTube.
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