How to sponsor through PIE/SC: a step-by-step guide for companies

To sponsor through PIE/SC (Santa Catarina’s Sports Incentive Program), a company chooses a project approved by FESPORTE, Santa Catarina’s state sports foundation, registers the support and the amount in SAT, the state finance department’s tax system, transfers the money to the project’s dedicated account and, in the same assessment period, takes the amount as a crédito presumido (presumed tax credit) of ICMS (state tax on goods and services), within the 15%, 10% or 7% limit. The order matters: Decree nº 880/2025 requires registration before the transfer. This is how companies in Brazil do it; readers abroad do not pay tax in Brazil, but the steps show how a Santa Catarina company turns tax into sport. Here is the roadmap, step by step, for the manager and the accountant.

If you are not yet familiar with the program, start with the guide PIE/SC: how your company turns ICMS into sport. Here the focus is on execution.

First things first: does the company qualify?

Answer with your accountant, in five minutes:

• Does the company pay regular ICMS in Santa Catarina? ICMS under substituição tributária (tax substitution) and under tax liability for third parties does not count (§ 3).
• Is the gross annual revenue declared in the DIME or the EFD (the company’s state tax filings) for the previous year above the empresa de pequeno porte (small business) ceiling? The brackets in § 2, item VI, start at that ceiling.
• Are the DIME and EFD up to date, and does the company have a certidão negativa (tax clearance certificate) for state debts, or a positive certificate with the effect of a clearance certificate (§ 5)?

Three “yes” answers and the path is open. Any “no” must be resolved first.

Step 1: calculate the amount that fits within the limit

The limit applies per assessment period, on the ICMS due in the period:

Gross annual revenue	Limit
From the small business ceiling up to 4 times the ceiling	15%
From 4 to 8 times the ceiling	10%
Above 8 times the ceiling	7%

Example with round numbers: a company in the 15% bracket with ICMS due of R$ 50,000 in the month can take up to R$ 7,500 of credit that month. If its support for the project is R$ 30,000, it can split it into four monthly transfers of R$ 7,500. The credit also cannot exceed the amount transferred or the balance due for the previous period (items III to V).

Companies that report on a consolidated basis, adding up their establishments in the state, use the 7% rate (§ 10). The detailed calculation is in PIE/SC limit by ICMS bracket.

Step 2: choose the project and ask for the fundraising letter

According to the FESPORTE FAQ, projects are selected through a public call on the Prosas platform, and only approved projects receive the fundraising letter (carta de captação), which authorizes the organization to seek support. Ask the organization for:

1. the project number and the call under which it was approved;
2. the fundraising letter with the authorized amount;
3. the details of the project’s dedicated account.

What the letter is and how to read it is explained in the PIE fundraising letter.

Step 3: register the support in SAT

SAT is the Sistema de Administração Tributária (tax administration system) of the Santa Catarina State Finance Department. § 1 of art. 470 requires prior registration of the support for the project and of the amount to be applied. In practice, the accountant logs into SAT with the company’s digital certificate, enters the project and the amount and waits for confirmation.

Do this before any transfer. It is the program’s most expensive mistake: money transferred without registration does not become credit. The system details are in SAT registration for PIE.

Step 4: transfer to the dedicated account

Once registration is confirmed, transfer the amount to the project account. Use the company’s account, with clear identification. Keep the bank receipt and the registration confirmation in the same file.

Step 5: take the credit in the tax calculation

In the assessment period in which the transfer was made, the accountant records the presumed credit, limited to the company’s bracket percentage, the amount transferred and the balance due for the previous period. If the state’s annual cap has already been reached, the credit moves to the following fiscal year (§ 4).

Step 6: keep everything and follow up

Keep in one place: the fundraising letter, the SAT confirmation, the transfer receipt, the organization’s receipt and the credit calculation worksheet. If the project returns any amount to the company, the corresponding credit must be reversed (§ 6).

Mistakes that cancel the credit

• Transferring before registering in SAT.
• Depositing into the organization’s general account.
• Calculating the limit on tax substitution ICMS.
• Taking more credit than the balance due for the previous period.
• Letting the clearance certificate expire in the middle of the process.
• Confusing the state cap (0.5% of revenue, up to R$ 75 million) with the company’s limit.
• Supporting a project without a valid fundraising letter.

Muaythai nas Escolas and your company

According to the 2025 media kit of FECAMTT, the Santa Catarina Traditional Muaythai Federation, chaired by Mestre Paulo Ribeiro, the Muaythai nas Escolas (“Muaythai in Schools”) project was approved under PIE/SC, in the educational sport and sports development line, for a total of R$ 100,000.00. The project’s official number and the fundraising letter have not been published here yet: ask the federation for both documents before registering your support.

Behind the project lies more than twenty years of work. The Mestre teaches free Taekwondo to children after school hours through Projeto Campeões do Futuro (“Future Champions”), with centers at schools such as EEB João Goulart and in the São Judas neighborhood, in Balneário Camboriú. In 2025, a 16-year-old student became youth world champion at the World Championship in Verona, Italy. That is what your company’s ICMS can fund.

See the Muaythai nas Escolas page to present the project to your board.

How to do it today

1. Send this page to your accountant and ask for answers to the three qualifying questions.
2. Ask FECAMTT for the project number, the fundraising letter and the dedicated account.
3. Set the amount and the transfer schedule within the monthly limit.
4. Register in SAT, transfer, take the credit, file.

This is how companies in Brazil do it. If you live abroad, you do not pay tax in Brazil, but you can still support the project. Would you like the Mestre to present the project to your team? Talk to the Mestre.

This content is for information only and does not replace advice from your accountant. Rules may change: always check the wording currently in force.