Due to its federal nature, tax legislation in Brazil varies from city to city. Currently, the country has 5,569 cities and one of the first steps to be taken is to find out in which municipalities your company provides services and which municipalities require the CPOM or a similar registration such as RANFS, CENE, DANFS-E, DSR, among others. This is because the name and type of registration may vary from municipality to municipality.
The emergence of the CPOM (Cadastro de Prestadores de Serviços Domiciliados em Outros Municípios) arose as a measure to prevent companies from establishing themselves in municipalities where they paid a lower ISS (Imposto sobre Serviços de Qualquer Natureza), despite the fact that the service was provided in another municipality where the value was higher.
Currently, companies that are not registered in the CPOM or in the CENE (Cadastro de Empresas Não Estabelecidas) run the risk of having to pay double taxation by having to pay ISS both in the municipality where they have their legal domicile and in the municipality where they provide the service.
The person responsible for formalizing the registration is the one who provides the service to clients in another city. For example, in the case of a company from Rio de Janeiro that provides services to a company located in the city of São Paulo, it must be registered with the CPOM in São Paulo.
The most common documents required by municipalities to complete the CPOM registration are the following:
- Articles of Incorporation.
- CNPJ registration card.
- Registration application form.
- Electricity bill.
- Invoice for communication services.
- Photos of the company’s headquarters.
In any case, the necessary documentation needs to be verified with the corresponding municipality.
In cases where the company’s services are performed in multiple municipalities, it is recommended that a clause be added into the contract stipulating that, in case of withholding, the value of the tax will be included in the invoice. This is because it would not be feasible to set a single price that includes every municipality.