The government promises to send Congress, after the election, the measure that keeps drinks' 2027 tax burden at the IPI level paid today
With the runoff of Brazil's elections this Sunday, October 25, a decision that affects the price of beer, cachaça, whisky and soft drinks enters its final stretch: the provisional measure (MP) that will set the rates of the Selective Tax. Finance Minister Dario Durigan said on October 8 that the government intends to send the text to Congress after the runoff, according to Agência Brasil. According to Valor Econômico, cited by the agency, the delay aims to avoid political impact during the campaign.
The Selective Tax, nicknamed the sin tax, was created by the tax reform to replace the IPI (the federal tax on industrialized products) on goods such as alcoholic and sugary drinks, cigarettes, vehicles, boats and aircraft, mineral goods and betting. Unlike the IPI, its rate can vary with potential harm, such as alcohol content.
The proposal is that, in 2027, the affected sectors pay the equivalent of what they pay today in IPI, with no increase in the tax burden. Durigan presented the idea on July 2 and spoke of leaving the discussion of specific rates for 2028, according to Portal da Reforma Tributária. In early October, the minister announced an agreement with the sectors, and at a meeting in Brasília on October 13, with the Federal Revenue Service, the CNI industry confederation and beer, wine, spirits and soft drink companies, keeping the burden unchanged was reaffirmed, Guia da Cerveja reported.
For the new tax to take effect on January 1, the MP would have had to be sent by October 2, because of the 90-day rule. With that deadline missed, collection can only begin in late January or February 2027. According to Valor, the Finance Ministry is studying a constitutional amendment to extend the IPI until January 31 for these sectors only; without it, the government would lose almost R$ 4 billion in January, according to Folha de S.Paulo, both cited by Guia da Cerveja.
Sindicerv, the beer industry union, supports the reform and is awaiting the proposal with rates in line with what was negotiated, according to Guia da Cerveja. For Gilberto Tarantino, president of Abracerva, the craft brewers' association, the calendar has slipped by about a year, and the rules should come in 2027 or even 2028; the association has proposed a lower rate for small breweries, based on the volume produced.
Spirits makers are pushing back. In July, the Brazilian Association of Distilled Beverages (ABBD) argued for a hybrid model, with a fixed charge per liter of pure alcohol and a rate on the price, and said any other format would protect the lower-alcohol category, which accounts for 90% of consumption.
We cannot replicate the distortions of the IPI in a tax whose purpose is public healthEduardo Cidade, president of ABBD, to Portal da Reforma Tributária
As of publication, the MP had not been sent and no rate had been published. Drinks from every category, from Brahma Chopp to Guaraná Antarctica, are in Bebidário's catalog.
Sources: Guia da Cerveja (October 20, 2026), Agência Brasil (October 8, 2026), Portal da Reforma Tributária (July 9, 2026).
