Without the decree published in time, the "sin tax" cannot be collected on January 1; the Finance Ministry says talks are ongoing
Brazil's federal government reaches the last day of its deadline without having published the rates of the Selective Tax, the levy created by the tax reform for products considered harmful to health, alcoholic drinks among them. Every new tax must wait 90 days between publication and the start of collection, a rule known as the noventena. So if the provisional measure with the percentages is not issued by this Saturday (October 3), the tax cannot be collected on January 1, 2027, as planned, according to Gazeta do Povo.
On Friday (October 2), Finance Minister Dario Durigan said that sending the provisional measure to Congress is still under negotiation, according to Estadão. The newspaper reports that the delay raises concern over the risk of political noise during the election campaign, and that the rates of the Selective Tax, the CBS and the IBS are only expected to be known after the elections. Gazeta do Povo reports that the tax is projected to raise almost R$ 42 billion in 2027.
This is a matter I will deal with next.Dario Durigan, Finance Minister, according to Estadão
Complementary Law 214, of January 2025, which regulated the reform, already puts alcoholic drinks and sugary drinks on the Selective Tax list (article 409), alongside cigarettes, vehicles and betting. What is missing is the number: the law leaves the rates to an ordinary law (article 422). For alcoholic drinks, it sets the design, with a rate on price added to a specific rate based on alcohol content multiplied by volume.
In practice, the specific part weighs more on drinks with more alcohol. By the formula, a liter of cachaça at 40% alcohol holds eight times more pure alcohol than a liter of beer at 5%. The price-based part may also vary by category and rise with alcohol content, and the law allows different treatment for small producers, with rates that grow with the volume produced. The specific rates will be adjusted by the IPCA inflation index once a year.
The law also sets a transition: from 2029 to 2033, the rates on alcoholic drinks and cigarettes rise gradually to incorporate the difference between the ICMS these products pay and that tax's standard rate. In June, the Finance Ministry told JOTA that the bill will bring both charges for drinks, one per liter of pure alcohol and another on value, but the final model has not yet been presented. For anyone buying wine, beer or cachaça, nothing changes for now: without the rates, there is no way to know how much the tax will add to prices from 2027.
Sources: Estadão Conteúdo, via Money Times (October 2, 2026), Gazeta do Povo (October 3, 2026), Complementary Law No. 214/2025, text published by the Chamber of Deputies, JOTA, via Contábeis (June 11, 2026).
