Bolsonaro says he is studying tax cuts on computers, cell phones and video games

The figures came two months later, but the conversation began in June 2019. On the 16th of that month, then-president Jair Bolsonaro posted a series of messages on Twitter about the government’s intention to reduce taxes on computer products and cell phones. In one of them, he included video games: “We will also evaluate the possibility of reducing taxes for electronic games.” At the time, there was still no decree, date or official percentages defined for the sector.

For those who play in Brazil, the topic is old. The tax burden on video games is a long-standing complaint of players, and one of the taxes most cited in this conversation is the IPI, the Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados (tax on industrialized products), which applies to the product when it leaves the factory or on import. Translating the jargon: any change in this rate tends to affect the final price of consoles and accessories, even if other taxes, such as the import tax and ICMS, remain in the bill.

What came next

The measure came off the paper in August 2019. Decree No. 9,971, signed on August 14 and published in the Diário Oficial da União the next day, changed the IPI table for code 9504.50.00 of the TIPI, the one for video game consoles: the general rate became 40%, with 32% for items under exception Ex 01 and 16% for those under Ex 02. The decree took effect on the date of publication and was later revoked by Decree No. 10,923 of December 30, 2021, which approved a new complete IPI table.

In practice, this means that of the three sectors cited in the June tweet, video games got a specific decree as early as August, signed by the president and by then Minister of Economy Paulo Guedes. For those who want to check rates, the safest source remains the text of the decrees published on the Planalto portal, since the IPI table has changed other times since then.

Source: Presidência da República, via Eurogamer.