Tax reform and five open questions for the solar sector

Tax lawyer Thiago Bao Ribeiro started from Greener's 2025 survey to list five points that the Tax Reform leaves open in the solar sector, among them the taxation of plant leasing, the shared generation model and the rebalancing of EPC contracts.

The sector has already seen the numbers change by administrative decision. Gecex Resolution No. 666, of 12 November 2024, raised the import duty on photovoltaic modules from 9.6% to 25%. Complementary Law 214/2025 set test rates of 0.9% CBS and 0.1% IBS in 2026, abolishes PIS and Cofins in 2027 and replaces ICMS and ISS with IBS between 2029 and 2032.

Plant lease contracts and distributed generation PPAs are signed for ten to twenty years, with prices formed under a tax regime that ends within the term of the contract itself. The rebalancing clause is where this difference is resolved, and it can still be negotiated before the Senate sets the reference rate.

Whoever reviews the tax matrix of existing contracts now negotiates with a known rule; whoever waits until 2027 negotiates with the rate already published.