Tax reform advances on the split payment technology front
While much of the market's attention is still on the technical notes for NF-e, NFC-e and NFS-e, another pillar of the tax reform has decisively matured in recent weeks: the Split Payment Public Platform. The technical documentation that will guide banks, acquirers, and payment institutions in building the integration with the Tax Authority has already been published and continues to draw attention among experts this week.
What was published, and when
Joint Act RFB/CGIBS No. 2, of May 27, 2026, provides for the joint authorization of the Special Secretariat of the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service and the Goods and Services Tax Management Committee to publish, on the Internet, in their own public domains, the Integration Manual and the Swagger documentation for the Split Payment Public Platform solution. The technical documentation for the Split Payment Public Platform was approved through this Joint Act, published on Wednesday (6/3) in the Federal Official Gazette.
These are two complementary documents: the Integration Manual, which defines the architecture, flows, and construction rules of the Public Platform, functioning as a data transmission channel between financial system agents and government entities; and the Swagger documentation, which specifies, in a standardized and interactive way, the resources available in the API, including operations, mandatory and optional parameters, allowing developers to test the integration before going into production. Both are available on the National Goods and Services Taxation Portal, at consumo.tributos.gov.br, in the manuals menu.
Who needs to act first
The publication aims to inform electronic payment service providers and payment system operating institutions so they can begin developing their solutions. The Split Payment Public Platform will function as a communication HUB between payment system operating institutions or electronic payment service providers (PSPs) and government entities. In other words: the obligation to build the integration falls on PSPs, banks, and acquirers — but the operational impact will land directly on the ERP and financial reconciliation of any company that issues fiscal documents.
Within the expected flow, the so-called Segregation Report stands out: an obligation focused on detailing the financial transfer of the segregation before remittance to the tax authorities, whose flow involves communicating the start of the transfer, sending batches of transactions, and, at the end, reporting the closing.
Timeline: what changes in 2026 and what begins in 2027
According to the Federal Revenue Service, 2026 will be the test year for CBS and IBS, with test rates of 0.9% for CBS and 0.1% for IBS, offset against the amount owed for PIS and Cofins. There is, therefore, no effective split payment charge this year — what is underway is the technological preparation.
For the practical entry into force, the design is already clearer: split payment will be implemented in three phases, starting in 2027: the first phase will be optional and applied only to business-to-business (B2B) transactions; the second phase will make the regime mandatory for B2B, once there is stability in the use of the model; and the third phase will extend the mechanism to transactions with the end consumer (B2C). There is no official schedule for the start of phases two and three, since this timeline will depend on the maturity of market participants.
The payment methods expected to lead the first stage are also already defined: the first practical step is to map all the payment methods the company currently uses and identify which ones will be impacted first, with Pix and boleto (bank slip) leading the way.
The real impact: reconciliation stops being binary
Today, financial reconciliation at any company essentially compares two numbers: the invoice amount and the amount received. With split payment, this model changes structurally. Bank reconciliation stops being just a comparison between the invoice amount and the amount received, and now requires three data points: the transaction amount, the amount segregated by the PSP, and the net amount credited. This changes the integration design between the ERP, the bank, and the fiscal document.
In financial practice, the effect is direct on working capital: today companies receive the full sale amount and pay taxes on later dates, creating a gap that many use as a source of working capital; with split payment, this gap will cease to exist for the payment methods included in the system, and the tax amount will no longer reach the company's account.
Not everything goes through the public platform: manual split also exists
It's worth noting that Complementary Law No. 214/2025 also provides for an alternative mechanism for situations where automatic segregation is not possible. The so-called Manual Split, provided for in Article 36, covers situations in which the payment instrument does not allow automatic segregation — such as cash payments, checks, or transactions without a linked fiscal document — with the taxpayer acquirer responsible for making the payment directly.
What tax, accounting, and IT teams should do right now
Even without a direct obligation on the end taxpayer at this current stage, those who wait until 2027 to act will face more operational friction. It's worth using the rest of 2026 to:
- Map all payment methods used by the company and identify which ones fall under phase 1 (Pix and boleto);
- Talk to banks, acquirers, and PSPs about the roadmap for adopting the Public Platform's Swagger;
- Assess whether the current ERP has native integration with NF-e and can receive segregated data from the PSP, automatically recording it in the financial and accounting module;
- Review contracts with PSPs and acquirers, including SLAs for segregation, transfer, and failure procedures;
- Simulate the impact of split payment on cash flow and working capital needs, since the gap between receiving the sale and paying the tax tends to disappear for the payment methods covered by the first phase.
This content is informational and does not replace guidance from your accounting firm or tax advisor, especially given details that still depend on future regulation through joint acts from the Federal Revenue Service and the CGIBS.
Want to understand how to prepare your company's tax and financial integration for split payment in advance? Talk to the Edoo team.
Split Payment: The Public Platform Integration Manual Is Now Live — What Tax, Accounting, and IT Teams Need to Map Now