Supplementary Law No. 225/2026, which established the Taxpayer Defense Code, introduced a specific legal framework for the “Strategic Tax Defaulter. Applicable across all federal levels, including the Union, States, and Municipalities, this regime aims to distinguish occasional economic insolvency from repeated and unjustified defaults that harm fair competition and tax collection. The model combines objective criteria with a formal administrative process, ensuring due process and proportional measures while avoiding arbitrary or automatic sanctions.
Under the federal scope, a taxpayer is characterized as a strategic defaulter based on the cumulative verification of substantial, repeated, and unjustified default. Injustice is deemed substantial when indebtedness reaches at least BRL 15 million and exceeds 100% of known assets. The default is considered repeated when it persists for four consecutive or six alternating periods within twelve months, and it is classified as unjustified in the absence of objective causes, such as a state of public calamity, recurring economic losses for up to two fiscal years, or the absence of fraudulent acts to evade execution.
Classification requires a specific administrative proceeding featuring prior notification, clear disclosure of debts, and a guaranteed right to defense. A minimum of 30 days is provided for regularization or rebuttal, which generally suspends the effects of the classification. Following a final decision, the taxpayer may be included in a dedicated public registry and subject to restrictions such as bans on tax incentives, participation in public tenders, new government contracts, and eligibility for judicial reorganization. Additionally, the taxpayer’s registration status may be declared inactive while these conditions persist. This regime seeks to curb structural default while protecting good-faith taxpayers and reinforcing legal certainty.