New law authorizes PIS/Cofins credits on the purchase of scrap

Law No. 15.394/2026, published on April 23, 2026, amended Law No. 11.196/2005 to authorize the use of PIS/Cofins credits on the acquisition of waste and trimmings used as raw material or secondary material. The rule covers, among others, waste and trimmings of plastic, paper or cardboard, glass and various metals (such as iron/steel, copper, nickel, aluminum, lead, zinc and tin), as well as other metallic waste and scrap listed in the TIPI.

To qualify for the credit, the purchasing company must assess IRPJ under the real-profit regime and use these materials in its production activity. The law also provides that the sale of such waste, residue and scrap to a real-profit corporate buyer is exempt from PIS/Cofins, which is especially relevant for the recycling chain.

The topic was already being debated in court under Topic 304, in which the STF declared unconstitutional articles 47 and 48 of Law No. 11.196/2005, which had prohibited PIS/Cofins credits on the acquisition of recyclable inputs while exempting the corresponding sale.

In this context, Complementary Law No. 229/2026 brought a relevant innovation by lifting, for fiscal year 2026, certain fiscal and budgetary restrictions applicable to the granting of tax benefits related to the recyclables chain. In practice, the rule paved the way for the approval of measures authorizing the use of PIS/Cofins credits on the acquisition of waste, residue and scrap, as well as the exemption of their sale, without applying the limitations that would normally require these benefits to be foreseen in the government budget under LC No. 224/2025.

Thus, with the subsequent enactment of Law No. 15.394/2026, the credit is now calculated by applying the general PIS/Cofins rates to the value of acquisitions of items covered by the rule, provided the legal requirements are met. The law also preserves the right to the credit even if the buyer is subject to tax substitution.

Against this backdrop, the main point of attention becomes the review of operations: verifying whether the material acquired is among the items covered, whether the supplier is a legal entity domiciled in Brazil, and whether the buyer assesses IRPJ under the real-profit regime. With these requirements met, the new framework can reduce the tax cost, expand credit use and bring greater legal certainty to recyclable-material transactions.