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😵💫 Tech, tax and complexity
Doing business in Brazil is getting less complicated, but the country still has a long way to go, a new report finds
Letícia Arcoverde
June 04, 2025
BUSINESS
Has the Brazilian business environment become less complex?
Brazil’s tax reform is under construction — and is set to make the business environment less complicated. Photo: Paulo Pinto/EBC
Despite being one of the world’s most intricate jurisdictions in which to do business, Brazil has made strides in simplifying its corporate environment over the past five years, according to a new report by TMF Group, a Dutch-based professional services firm.
The Global Business Complexity Index, which evaluates 79 jurisdictions through 292 indicators covering legislation, compliance, human resources and tax policy, ranked Brazil sixth in 2025 — down from the most complex in earlier editions of the study.
Brazil has actually performed worse in the ranking since 2024, a decline TMF attributes in part to the early implementation phase of the country’s sweeping tax reform, which aims to consolidate five consumption taxes into two value-added taxes (VATs): a federal-level levy (CBS) and a state-municipal one (IBS).
“Regulatory reforms, digitalization and technological adoption are fostering a more agile business environment,” said Mauricio Catâneo, TMF’s Brazil head. “But the overlap of federal, state and municipal tax regimes remains burdensome, especially when aligned with international accounting standards. The uncertainty around tax reform only compounds that complexity.”
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