Refaz Cervejarias cuts interest and fines on debts due through 2025; companies can sign up online until November 30
The state government of Rio Grande do Sul opened Refaz Cervejarias on October 13, a program that lets breweries renegotiate ICMS tax debts with discounts of up to 95% on interest and fines. The tax principal itself gets no discount. The program was created by Decree 58.988/2026, published in the State Official Gazette on September 30, and regulated by Normative Instruction RE 080/2026, according to the state's Finance Department.
Companies whose main activity is making beer and draft beer, or wholesaling beer, draft beer and soft drinks, can join. ICMS debts due through December 31, 2025 are covered, including those already being collected in court.
Those who pay in a single installment get a 95% reduction in interest and fines. In installment plans, the discount is 90% for up to 60 monthly payments and 80% for 61 to 120 payments. Companies in judicial recovery and cooperatives in liquidation can pay in 121 to 180 installments, also at 80%. Missing three installments cancels the plan and the discounts on the remaining balance.
Sign-up runs until November 30 and is done only online, through the State Revenue Service's e-CAC portal. The single payment or the first installment must also be paid by November 30. According to Guia da Cerveja, anyone who wants to include a debt the tax authority has not yet charged must confess it by November 13, and those who join admit the debt irrevocably and give up challenging it.
The program answers a request from the Rio Grande do Sul Microbrewers Association (AGM), which negotiated for months with the State Revenue Service, according to Guia da Cerveja. Forgiving ICMS interest and fines requires unanimous approval from the states at Confaz, which authorized the measure in July through ICMS Agreement 84/26. Speaking to Jornal do Comércio, AGM president Matheus Andrade said the program's reach cannot yet be measured and recommended that companies carry out a tax review before joining.
The state has 325 registered breweries, second only to São Paulo, according to the 2026 Beer Yearbook from the Ministry of Agriculture, cited by Guia da Cerveja. AGM estimates that more than 500 brands without their own brewery, the so-called gypsy breweries, operate in the state.
Sources: Government of Rio Grande do Sul (October 9, 2026), Guia da Cerveja (October 13, 2026), Jornal do Comércio (October 5, 2026).
