Brazil is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world, with 82% of the population shopping online at least once a month. For international merchants, the country represents a huge opportunity—, but also a set of unique challenges. Among these, cross-border reverse logistics—specifically, cross-border returns—stand out as key operational and financial hurdles.
From navigating complex import taxes to ensuring smooth refunds in local currency, handling returns in Brazil can be intimidating for businesses outside the country. However, with the right strategy and trusted local partners, these challenges can be transformed into a competitive advantage, helping you build trust with Brazilian consumers and increase conversion rates.
In this article, we’ll explore the main obstacles of international e-commerce returns in the Brazilian market and show how merchants can address them—without fear of frustrating your customers or hurting your bottom line.
We’ll cover:
- Why a local return strategy is critical to winning Brazilian consumers
- The main tax and customs challenges of shipping to Brazil
- The Remessa Conforme Program and how it reduces returns
- The impact of Brazil’s consumer protection laws
- How a local payment partner can help simplify refunds
Why Is a Local Return Strategy Critical to Winning Brazilian Consumers?
Trust is everything for Brazilian shoppers—a fact made clear in Serasa Experian’s 2025 report on digital identity and fraud. With over half the population having been victims of fraud, Brazilians tend to be cautious in their spending habits. In fact, over a third report abandoning their carts when they distrust a store’s website or app. It should come as no surprise, then, that consumers expect a clear, simple, and reliable return process. Without it, they’re much more likely to hesitate to complete a purchase.
A localized return policy does more than comply with regulations—it builds confidence. Brazilian consumers need to feel secure that if a product doesn’t meet their expectations, returning it will be straightforward and hassle-free.
For international merchants, this means adapting your strategy to the Brazilian market. By thinking local-first, you turn what could be a costly operational challenge into a competitive advantage, demonstrating to your Brazilian customers that you understand their expectations and are ready to meet them.
What Are the Main Tax and Customs Challenges for Shipments to Brazil?
Selling to Brazil means dealing with one of the most complex tax and customs environments in the world. International merchants often underestimate how duties and fees impact the shopping experience, and the result can be frustrated customers, rejected deliveries, and costly returns—obstacles that make cross-border reverse logistics a worthwhile topic to explore.
The most common issue is the federal import tax (locally known as “Taxa Alfandegária”), which frequently catches buyers by surprise. When the final cost of receiving a product is much higher than expected, many Brazilian consumers simply refuse delivery, leaving merchants to absorb the loss.
In the next subsections, we’ll explore two of the biggest customs-related challenges: the standard 60% import tax and how high duties often lead to “forced returns” that disrupt both the customer experience and your bottom line.
The Standard 60% Import Tax Problem
When a product arrives in Brazil, it often faces a federal import tax of 60% applied to the value of the goods plus shipping, in addition to a 17% state import tax. This process is part of Brazil’s customs system and is enforced regardless of whether the buyer was expecting it.
For many international merchants, this creates a serious problem: customers are caught off guard when their package is held at customs and released only after the tax is paid. The total cost of the purchase can suddenly become much higher than anticipated, creating frustration and distrust.
Even when customers are willing to pay, the process adds delays and bureaucracy, hurting the overall shopping experience. For merchants, this risk makes it essential to understand and anticipate the impact of Brazil’s import taxes on cross-border sales.
How High Taxes Lead to “Forced Returns”
Because these high import taxes can significantly increase the final price of an order, many Brazilian consumers simply refuse to pay them. When this happens, the package is classified as “refused at customs” and is automatically returned to the sender.
For international merchants, these “forced returns” are more than just an inconvenience. They generate logistical costs, long delays, and financial losses, as the product may take weeks to return—if it returns at all. In some cases, goods are abandoned or even destroyed during the process, leaving the merchant with no product and no revenue.
This dynamic creates a major challenge for cross-border e-commerce: without the right strategy, unexpected taxes can drive high return rates and unhappy customers, hurting both your margins and your brand’s reputation in Brazil.
How Can Participating in the Remessa Conforme Program (PRC) Proactively Improve Cross-Border Reverse Logistics?
While high import taxes are one of the main reasons Brazilian consumers refuse packages, the government has introduced a new initiative to address this issue: the Remessa Conforme Program (PRC).
Designed specifically for international e-commerce, the PRC helps create a more transparent and predictable customs process for both merchants and shoppers. By making taxes clear and payable at checkout, the program eliminates one of the biggest pain points of cross-border sales to Brazil: unexpected costs at delivery.
In the following subsections, we’ll look at what the PRC is, how it changes the tax process, and why it can significantly reduce forced returns for international merchants.
What Is the Remessa Conforme Program?
The Remessa Conforme Program (PRC) is a Brazilian government compliance initiative designed to simplify customs for participating e-commerce merchants. It provides a structured framework that allows online retailers to calculate and manage taxes before the product even leaves the warehouse, making the entire shipping process more predictable.
In addition, Brazilian consumers buying from merchants enrolled in the program benefit from lower federal import taxes. Purchases up to USD $50 are taxed at just 20%, while purchases above that threshold receive a flat USD $20 reduction on the federal import tax. These savings create a major advantage for shoppers, easing the financial burden of cross-border purchases and making international products more accessible.
By participating in the PRC, merchants can offer Brazilian customers full transparency and a significant reduction in costs at checkout, ensuring there are no surprises when the package arrives. This proactive approach reduces confusion, delays, and the likelihood of refused deliveries—benefits that are particularly valuable for international sellers navigating Brazil’s complex import system.
How Does the PRC Prevent Returns?
The key benefit of the PRC is its ability to prevent returns before they even happen. By providing full tax transparency at checkout and ensuring faster, smoother customs clearance, customers no longer face unexpected costs that would make them refuse delivery. They feel confident completing their order, knowing the total price upfront and enjoying a reliable, predictable delivery process.
For international merchants, this means fewer forced returns, lower logistical costs, and a much smoother post-purchase experience. In short, the PRC tackles one of the biggest pain points of cross-border reverse logistics and e-commerce in Brazil, allowing merchants to retain revenue and build trust with their Brazilian buyers.
What Is Brazil’s Direito de Arrependimento (Right to Cancellation) and How Does It Impact International Merchants?
Even with strategies like the Remessa Conforme Program (PRC) reducing forced returns due to customs surprises, international merchants still need to navigate Brazil’s consumer protection laws, which give shoppers specific rights that may be unfamiliar outside the country.
At the heart of Brazilian e-commerce law is the Código de Defesa do Consumidor (Consumer Defense Code), which protects buyers and ensures fair practices in online transactions. One of the most important provisions for online merchants is the Direito de Arrependimento, or Right to Cancellation.
This law gives consumers seven days from the date of receipt to cancel their purchase for any reason and request a full refund. Unlike in many other countries, this right is mandatory and applies automatically to all e-commerce sales, regardless of whether the merchant’s home country offers similar policies.
For international merchants, this means that your return and refund processes must accommodate this seven-day window. Failing to comply can result in legal penalties, dissatisfied customers, and reputational damage. Understanding and integrating the Right to Cancellation into your operations is essential for building trust and delivering a smooth post-purchase experience to Brazilian consumers.
Why the Right Payment Partner Makes Refunds a Non-Issue
One of the biggest hurdles for international merchants in Brazil isn’t just handling returns—it’s making sure you can accept the payments Brazilian consumers actually use in the first place. Many Brazilians don’t have access to credit cards, let alone those enabled for international purchases. This means that if you only offer cross-border card processing, you’re leaving a huge portion of the market untapped.
By working with a localized payments partner like PagBrasil, you can accept the methods Brazilians know and love: Pix, digital wallets, boleto (Brazilian bank slip), and local credit card installments. This opens your store to far more customers while also ensuring the post-purchase process runs smoothly.
And when a refund is necessary—whether due to the Right of Regret or another reason —you don’t need to worry. The same partner that processes the original payment also takes care of the refund, directly in Brazilian reais (BRL), using the exact method the customer paid with. For the merchant, it’s seamless. For the customer, it’s fast and familiar.
Cross-Border Reverse Logistics: Key Takeaways
- Prevent Forced Returns: Join the Remessa Conforme Program (PRC) to offer tax transparency and a significant reduction in federal import taxes at checkout, helping to avoid customers refusing packages due to surprise fees.
- Respect Local Law: The 7-day Right to Cancellation is mandatory and allows customers to return products for any reason.
- Localize Your Policy: A clear, localized returns policy builds trust and drives sales.
- Simplify Refunds: Use a payments partner with an intermediation model to refund customers in BRL quickly and without hassle.
Nail Your Local-First Strategy with the Right Payment Partner
Selling to Brazil offers enormous opportunities, but it comes with unique challenges. Success in this market depends on a “local-first” strategy. This means ensuring smooth, fast refunds via a local payment partner with an intermediation model, like PagBrasil.
Ready to localize your strategy and offer the best experience to your Brazilian customers? Talk to one of our cross-border specialists and start selling in the largest market in Latin America.
