President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sanctioned this Thursday (10), at the Palácio do Planalto, the law that puts an end to the collection of the so-called "little blouse tax." With the new legislation, international purchases of up to 50 dollars on e-commerce platforms are once again exempt from the 20% import tax.
Lula classified the measure as a reparation to the consumer who buys "trinkets" and rejected criticism that the change could cause loss and unemployment in national commerce. During the signing ceremony, the president stated he considers "somewhat false the discourse of business owners that they will suffer losses" with the exemption.
The president also defended that the measure does not only benefit the lower classes, arguing that all classes buy on these international websites. The proposal had been approved by the National Congress in the preceding weeks.
In addition to retail commerce, the law brings a novelty for the health sector: it zero-rates the import tax on medicines for patients with rare or neglected diseases. The rule applies to medicines for individual use that have no similar in the Brazilian market.
