What you gain by watching
- Understand split payment and how the Tax Reform will change your company's cash flow at the moment of Pix, with no surprises in 2026.
- Discover how the IRS crackdown with Pix and Drex exposes those living in informality and learn how to shield yourself before the audit tightens.
- Learn from real cases how to legally reduce taxes, from changing the CNPJ's city to properly separating company and personal accounts.
About the episode
The factory floor lives with a dilemma that keeps every entrepreneur awake at night: with each sale, a slice of revenue disappears — and the feeling is that the government always comes out ahead. In the most recent episode of Rotocast, we welcomed Ivan Grisolia, CEO of CX Contábil, to demystify the Tax Reform and show that the truth about taxes is very different from the panic surrounding the market. No, we are not facing a higher charge — but rather a charge that will hurt in a new and inevitable way.
The big turning point that the episode reveals is split payment, the mechanism that makes the government take its share at the exact moment of payment via Pix. As we said on the show: "I often say that today the government is the partner who receives the most inside companies." Now, with technology, this partner no longer waits for the invoice to come due to get paid — it takes the rate on the spot, directly to each sphere, and the practical effect is feeling the discount slowly, instead of taking an accumulated hit on the tax return. The engineering behind this is what we call "brilliance": when a company hires a supplier and pays R$ 1,000 already knowing that R$ 200 are taxes, it can only take credit for that amount if the supplier has paid its taxes. In other words, the charge is no longer exclusive to the government and becomes the buyer's own responsibility, who will demand taxes up to date in order to benefit.
And the crackdown does not stop there. We dove into the tax dragnet that Pix and Drex, the digital real, are weaving — and we told Ivan's case, who moves R$ 4 thousand but only receives R$ 1.5 thousand: the math does not add up, and the IRS already knows. "The crackdown is tightening," we warned. Those still living in informality, issuing invoices with a lower amount than the real one or mixing personal accounts with the company's, need to get organized before the debt comes back — as in the case we told of an entrepreneur who saw the debt of a bankrupt CNPJ migrate to the CPF years later. Short memory does not erase liabilities, and the central tip is to start the adjustment before the ultimatum arrives.
But not everything is pressure. The episode is also a manual on how to turn legislation in your favor. We talked about the brutal difference in ICMS between states — a simple change of city in the CNPJ generated savings of 1% on billion-dollar revenue, amounting to R$ 120 thousand per year — and about the importance of separating cost from expense to price each product with real margin. And, as we summed up bluntly: "it is expensive to have cheap accounting." The tax part always arrives after the inventions, and mental flexibility is needed to fit your activity into the right CNAE and tax only what actually remains.
Press play and discover how your cash flow can breathe better still in 2025, because the coming years — and Drex — will expose what is still hidden today.
Summary generated with AI from the episode; some information may not be 100% accurate relative to the original content.
Episode chapters
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1
Borderless accounting: how to serve the business owner where they need it most, from the South to all of Brazil
In the first chapter, we already showed that innovating also means adapting to new forms of connection — and it was live, in vertical and horizontal format, that we welcomed Ivan Grisolia, CEO of CX Contábil, from Caxias do Sul. He came to talk about this 'madness' that is arriving and that has left everyone terrified — or not so much, because many still don't know that everything is changing. And his mission is clear: to serve the business owner 'where it hurts most', always legally, paying the lowest possible tax, and proving that an accounting firm from the South can indeed serve a client from the countryside of São Paulo.
Our vision is always also to be able to serve the business owner where it hurts most for them.
▶ Watch at approximately 0:04
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2
Tax split: will the government become a partner in your revenue at the moment of sale?
We opened the conversation by asking how Ivan reconciles the best of in-person service with digital agility, since he himself describes himself as an accountant who wants to be "the best of both" accounting worlds. But the hot topic of the episode came right after: the tax reform that promises to collect taxes more efficiently, not higher. We brought up the dreaded split payment, where the government already takes its share at the moment of payment via Pix, explaining that, in practice, it has always been the best-paid partner of companies — except that now, with technology, it will no longer need to wait for the invoice to come due to get paid.
I usually say that today the government is the partner that receives the most within companies.
▶ Watch at approximately 5:07
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3
Split Payment: the government as a partner who gets paid before you see the profit
When we look at the balance sheet and realize that the government pockets an average rate of 15% to 16% while many companies don't even reach 10% net profit, we understand why the tax reform touches what is most sensitive on the factory floor. In the episode, we talked about how Split Payment will work in practice — not in 2026, but expected to be 100% active in 2030 — and showed the mechanism using everyday examples, such as rent and iFood, to reveal the shift: the tax comes out at the moment of payment, straight to each sphere of government, and in the end the effect is feeling the discount slowly instead of taking an accumulated hit on the declaration.
The main point about the tax reform is that it doesn't come to charge you more, it comes to charge you better.
▶ Watch at approximately 10:15
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4
Split payment: the engineering that makes the buyer collect taxes from the supplier
On the factory floor, the new tax reform affects everyone's pockets, and the question that arose was: how will the government make sure no one evades taxes anymore? We show the mechanism that Portal calls 'brilliance': when Portal Rotomoldagem hires a company and pays R$ 1,000, it already knows that R$ 200 are taxes and can take credit for them, but only if the supplier has paid its taxes — thus, the collection stops being only the government's and becomes the buyer's own, who will demand taxes up to date to benefit.
The enforcement of you paying your taxes on time will no longer come from the government, it will come from whoever is hiring you. It's, genius, right?
▶ Watch at approximately 15:16
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5
The tax authority's siege: how Pix exposed those living outside the financial grid
In this section, we dive into a subject that affects everyone's pockets and accounting books: the tax dragnet that Brazil weaves around every transaction. We start from the question hanging in the air — how does the government connect what you spend with what you declare? — and we tell the case of Ivan, who moves R$ 4,000, but only receives R$ 1,500: the math doesn't add up. We show how this siege, which used to let transactions from fintechs and cash from street markets slip through, today closes in with Pix and with Drex, the digital real, revealing billions that the government didn't know where they came from.
Ah, Ivan moved four thousand reais. And then you go to Ivan's income declaration, Ivan only received one thousand five hundred. How did Ivan manage to do that? There's no way.
▶ Watch at approximately 20:16
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6
Drex and the tax dragnet: the siege that tightens around those still living on paper money
The conversation raises an alert about the end of paper money and the arrival of Drex, and we soon ask: when was the last time you handled physical cash? In the middle of the discussion, we reveal that the Receita already knows practically everything in the pre-filled declaration, and we show the risk for those still operating informally — such as issuing invoices with a lower value than the real one —, making it clear that the siege is tightening and that it's necessary to get organized before the tax dragnet tightens for good.
The siege is tightening, isn't it? And what can these companies do to avoid falling into this tax dragnet?
▶ Watch at approximately 25:24
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7
The debt that comes back after 12 years: the mistake that can bring down your CNPJ and your CPF
On the factory floor, many business owners think that 'filing for bankruptcy' and creating another CNPJ solves their life — but the government always collects, and the bill can arrive years later, as we told in the episode: a client saw the debt of the bankrupt CNPJ migrate to the CPF, garnish accounts, and even reach the spouse. We talked about how this net is architected to catch the business owner at the moment when he is consolidated, and our central tip: start adjusting before the ultimatum arrives, because a short memory does not erase the liability that comes back when you least expect it.
He always did this. But for how long? He has been doing this for three years. Man, my brother, he has to pray for the next forty years for nothing to happen.
▶ Watch at approximately 30:41
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8
MEI is not mandatory: the warning about movement without counterpart that can become a headache
In this excerpt, we dive into the reality of those who open a MEI seduced by the ease and forget that every bank movement without counterpart can be seen as revenue, including on the CPF — and we even tell a case of ours with accumulated DAS due to forgetfulness. We show that MEI is not mandatory and that, more than paying less tax, the path is to legalize with awareness, because the debt always collects at the moment you least expect it.
MEI is not mandatory to have. It is a benefit for you not to issue an invoice.
▶ Watch at approximately 35:54
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9
Rotomolding without its own CNPJ: how to fit tax and CNAE without paying more
The conversation dives into a dilemma common to those who provide rotomolding and intermediation services: does the tax apply to gross or to profit? We tell how the discussion moves through the example of a consultancy that receives 50 thousand but passes on 40 thousand in outsourced services, until the conclusion that what matters is the correct declaration, with a contract and invoice, in order to tax only the difference that actually remains. And, in a stroke of accounting magic, we reveal the way out for those living the same drama: the tax part always comes after the invention, and that is how, by understanding what rotomolding actually does, we managed to fit the activity into service intermediation and ease the tax burden.
The tax part and the legal part, they always come after the inventions. You need to have a mental flexibility to try to fit it.
▶ Watch at approximately 41:06
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10
Many CNAEs in one CNPJ: convenience or trap when pricing?
On the factory floor, the question is direct: can someone who sells everything from a trash can to an atomic bomb under the same CNPJ really manage the cost, tax, and price of each product? We talk about how the CNAE does not limit the business, but it is the NCM and the CFOP that determine the tax on each sale — and that is why pricing requires much more than a simple average. We show the practical path: separate cost from expense, understand the gross profit margin per product, and rely on CX to calculate the right tax percentage, turning tax chaos into financial predictability.
Cost is everything that is directly linked to the final product. Directly, directly linked to the final product. If you remove it, you cannot sell.
▶ Watch at approximately 46:27
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11
Single or separate CNPJ? The decision that can cut costs in your company
When the subject is growth, many entrepreneurs think about opening a new CNPJ for each activity — but it is not always the best path. In the episode, we show how the choice between tax regime and CNAE structure can directly impact your pocket, and why it is essential to evaluate the right moment before separating companies. Based on real cases, we reveal how adjustments in accounting, even changing cities, generated significant cost reductions for those with high revenue.
I prefer to win through honesty than to force you to have a new CNPJ, you having a loss in a little while having– opening bankruptcy or having to close the CNPJ for not having that cost there
▶ Watch at approximately 51:32
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12
Reductions that turn into hard cash: the case of R$ 120 thousand saved by changing cities
We talk about how a simple change of city in the CNPJ generated a 1% saving on billion-dollar revenue, turning into R$ 120 thousand per year — and we close with the story of the brewery that, with a 60% reduction in the calculation base, saved R$ 60 thousand and bought a new store, showing that this type of analysis is what differentiates accounting that asks 'where do you want to go' from one that only executes online.
It is expensive to have cheap accounting.
▶ Watch at approximately 56:34
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13
Why the physical store ends up being more expensive than the website? The ICMS difference that changes your purchase
We talked about how ICMS rates vary drastically between states — Goiás at around 32%, while Santa Catarina and Minas stay close to 12% to 17%, a difference that weighs on the pocket of those who buy from out of state. We showed that this variation isn't just bureaucracy: under Simples Nacional you pay the difference without recovering anything, but under lucro presumido or real you can offset the tax paid at origin, and that explains a mystery many people have already experienced. We recalled the case of someone who went to buy a cell phone in a physical store and discovered that the website sold it for hundreds of reais cheaper — it's not a crazy promotion, it's the company choosing the state with the lowest tax to close the online sale.
There are some companies that are not in Simples and manage to benefit from these…
▶ Watch at approximately 1:01:38
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14
The separation between CNPJ and CPF: the thread that prevents the financial 'maçaroca'
On the factory floor, the confusion between what to pay under the CNPJ and what to pay under the CPF becomes a knot that suffocates the small business owner — and we discovered that, in rotomolding, where there is no fixed CNAE, the wrong classification can leave money on the table. We talked about the importance of separating accounts, of understanding that paying personal bills through the company is a mistake that drags on since MEI, and we showed the path of profit distribution, which to this day is exempt, but which begins to be taxed in 2026 above fifty thousand monthly — a warning for those still living in informality.
The maçaroca. The self-employed professional, man, he, is the pro– the only sole owner of the company and it's him who does, and it's him who, who, works. Why can't I pay my electricity bill within my, my CNPJ, if I'm the owner, it's me who pays everything?
▶ Watch at approximately 1:06:52
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15
MEI and Receita Federal: why declaring the past can be your best defense
When the MEI moves amounts above the limit, the doubt is cruel: do I regularize the past or start from scratch? Without a magic formula, we explained that the Receita can notify for up to five years, and trying to justify old transactions without records is practically impossible. The decision is the entrepreneur's, but those who choose to start declaring correctly need to be aware of the risks: the tax authority's choice seems random, like a lottery, and no one is immune.
I'll explain the risks to you. Who decides whether you're going to run the risks is you!
▶ Watch at approximately 1:11:52
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16
Drex will expose inflation right in your face (and the tax you pay every day)
Amid the debate about Drex, the government's digital currency, we stopped to think: what would it be like to have your money's value changing before your eyes, like a stock on the exchange? We show that Drex doesn't invent anything — it merely exposes what already happens silently when inflation erodes the purchasing power of the real, and we remember that, behind every increase, the one who pays the bill is always the final consumer.
Today with a hundred reais, what can you buy? And two years ago, with a hundred reais what could you buy? That means the currency devalued, and that is what will expose in people's faces the lack of tact or the lack of predictability that our currency has.
▶ Watch at approximately 1:17:01
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17
Inflation eats your money: why serious accounting sees your company as a whole
We close the episode by showing how inflation erodes purchasing power — the same ten reais today don't buy the same tomorrow — and how this connects to the need for accounting that goes beyond the invoice. During the conversation, we realized that the problem isn't just the tax, but the lack of a complete view of the process, and that was exactly what our host brought up: the importance of having an up-to-date professional to validate costs and avoid future obstacles.
So the same ten reais you buy today, tomorrow you're not buying anymore. So the tax increase ends up eating into inflation.
▶ Watch at approximately 1:22:04
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