Import by Account and Order

Increasingly and for various reasons, organizations have been choosing to focus on the main purpose of their own business (end-activities) and to outsource the business activities of their enterprise.
This trend also occurs in foreign trade, as some companies have outsourced their merchandise import operations. One of the forms of outsourcing legally recognized and duly regulated by the Federal Revenue of Brazil (RFB) is the importation for account and order of third parties.
In this type of operation, a company – the acquirer -, interested in a particular merchandise, contracts a service provider – the importer on account and order – so that it, using the resources originating from the contractor, arranges, inter alia, the dispatch of importation of the merchandise in its name.
Thus, the importing company’s activities range from the simple execution of the importation dispatch to the intermediation of trading abroad, hiring of transportation, insurance, among others. The acquirer is the principal of the import, the one who actually purchases the merchandise from another country, due to the international purchase; although in this case it does so through an interposed person – the importer on account and order, who is a mere agent of the acquirer.

Advantages of import on account and order

The importation for account and order of third parties is widely used to reduce costs, through a special ICMS regime of importers. The import process is made up of meticulous and specific procedures, which are backed up in a sparse and very specific legislation. Outsourcing in this activity is undoubtedly a great advantage, since it brings great return to those who take that position. Among the advantages, we highlight a reduction in the number of employees and, mainly, the fiscal benefits and financial incentives granted by the States and Federal Government to companies that carry out this modality of importation.
Watch the video above and understand a little more about the advantages of the operation on behalf of third parties:

Additions, conditions and tax liabilities

In order for an import operation for account and order of third parties to be carried out in a perfectly regular manner, it is necessary, first of all, that both the acquiring company and the importing company are authorized to operate in the Integrated Foreign Trade System (Siscomex), in the terms of IN SRF nº 650, of 2006.
Thus, in addition to providing its own authorization, the legal entity that hires a company to operate on its behalf and order must present, to the SRF unit with jurisdiction for customs supervision over its parent company, a copy of the service provision contract. import agreement signed between the two companies (acquirer and importer), characterizing the nature of their relationship, so that the contractor is bound in Siscomex as importer for the account and order of the contractor, for the period established in the contract.
In order to promote the customs clearance of imported goods, as determined in article 3 of IN SRF no. 225/02, the following conditions must also be met: In preparing the import declaration (DI), the importer, a legal entity hired, must indicate on the “importer” sheet of DI the registration number of the acquiring company in the CNPJ; the corresponding bill of lading must be consigned or endorsed to the contracted importer, which will give him the right to carry out the customs clearance and to remove the merchandise from the bonded site; and the commercial invoice must identify the purchaser of the merchandise, ie against it must be invoiced the goods, as the invoice must reflect the transaction actually made with the seller or the transferor of the goods.
In addition to the above, under the terms of arts. 86 and 87 of IN SRF nº 247/02, the legal entity importing shall, among others: issue, on the date on which the customs clearance is completed, invoice of entry of the goods, informing, among others, in separate lines, the value of each import tax; evidence in their accounting and tax records that they are goods owned by third parties, also recording in a specific account the value of goods imported on behalf of third parties belonging to the respective purchasers; and issue, on the date of departure of the goods from its establishment and obligatorily to the purchaser of the importation, invoice of exit and invoice of services, for the value of the services provided to the buyer, stating the number of invoices of exit of the goods to services.
In the final analysis, it is the acquirer that pays the international purchase and has the economic capacity to pay, through the foreign exchange, the import. However, unlike the import-to-order transaction, the exchange transaction for the payment of an import for account and order may be made in the name of the importer or the acquirer, as established in the Regulations of the Exchange Market and International Capitals (RMCCI – Title 1 , Chapter 12, Section 2) of the Central Bank of Brazil (Bacen). Thus, even if the importer, on account and order, makes payments to the foreign supplier, whether or not anticipated, does not characterize an operation for its own account, but rather between the foreign exporter and the acquiring company, since it originates the financial resources.

Reference legislation:

Law No. 10,665/04, Law No. 10,637/02, Law No. 10,451/02, Law No. 9,430/96, MP No. 2,158/01, Decree No. 4,524/02, IN SRF No. 650/06, IN SRF No. 247/02, IN SRF No. 225/02, IN SRF No. 188/02
IMPORTS BY ACCOUNT AND ORDER. Available at: <http://idg.receita.fazenda.gov.br/orientacao/aduaneira/importacao-e-exportacao/operacoes-realizado-por-intermedio-de-terceiros/importacao-com-conta-e-ordem>