Amounts paid for interconnections and roaming are not included in the PIS and COFINS calculation basis.

The 1st Panel of the Superior Court of Justice, expressed the understanding that amounts paid for network interconnection and roaming should not be included in the calculation basis for PIS and COFINS, since such amounts do not constitute revenue for telecommunications operating companies, given that they are passed on to other service providers and are included in the companies’ accounting records only on a temporary basis.

The decision taken by the Ministers of the 1st Chamber only reinforces the tendency of the Judiciary to include in the calculation basis of PIS and COFINS only what is the company’s revenue, notably after the judgment of the thesis of the century, through which the value of ICMS was excluded from the calculation basis of PIS and COFINS.

Therefore, this is an important precedent for taxpayers, which guarantees the unanimous understanding of one of the STJ Panels regarding the exclusion of amounts arising from network interconnection and roaming from the PIS and COFINS calculation basis.