STF extends tax exemption on the purchase of cars by PWDs

The Federal Supreme Court decided on Monday (3), unanimously, to extend the tax exemption on the purchase of new cars by people with disabilities. In practice, the decision extends the tax benefit to those who have milder levels of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), until then excluded by law.

Rapporteur, Justice Alexandre de Moraes voted to remove from the complementary law of the tax reform the sections that restricted the exemption to “severe or profound” mental disability and to autism “of moderate or severe level”. The rule, approved by Congress in 2025, regulates the IBS (Tax on Goods and Services), of states and municipalities, and the CBS (Contribution on Goods and Services), federal, and defines the cases of zero rate.

The decision, however, does not automatically convert the level 1 diagnosis into the right to exemption. For Moraes, what should weigh is the concrete situation of each person, and not the label of the level of support. “Within level 1 itself, there are different levels that suit the reasons why the constitutional amendment provided for the exemption from the rate,” he said. For the rapporteur, the law “went far beyond what it could”.

Fiscal impact was unnumbered

The Attorney General’s Office defended the need to preserve fiscal balance, but the issue was dealt with laterally by the ministers, without any estimate of loss of revenue being presented. Moraes said that the change will not cause “any fiscal inconvenience” to the Union and cited data from the Autism Brazil Map according to which the country has about 12.6 thousand people in level 1 of the spectrum. “If all these asked, and every three years, there would be 4,000 people a year. Obviously this will not end the automobile industry in the country,” he said. The Ministry of Finance was contacted to inform the calculation of the impact and had not responded.

Factory items are still under discussion

The trial brought together two lawsuits. The Oceano Azul Institute maintains that the law imposes excessive requirements to prove disability, which excluded level 1 autistic people. The ANAPCD (National Association for the Support of People with Disabilities) alleges unequal treatment because the standard requires external adaptations made in workshops accredited by Detrans, without recognizing configurations that already leave the factory, such as automatic transmission and electric or hydraulic steering.

According to the complementary law, the IBS and CBS do not apply to the sale of nationally manufactured passenger cars with at least four doors, when the buyer has certain disabilities, including dwarfism and low vision. The STF maintained the rule that prevents a new exemption before three years.

The rapporteur’s vote was accompanied by Flávio Dino, Cristiano Zanin, André Mendonça, Kassio Nunes Marques, Luiz Fux, Dias Toffoli, Cármen Lúcia and Gilmar Mendes. Fux said that a complementary law cannot create categories of diseases not provided for in the constitutional amendment. Cármen Lúcia maintained that the exemption is not a privilege, but a constitutional guarantee. The case began to be judged in June, but was interrupted before the merits.