PIE/SC limit: 15%, 10% or 7% of ICMS, with examples

The PIE/SC (Santa Catarina’s Sports Incentive Program) limit for your company is 15%, 10% or 7% of the ICMS (state tax on goods and services) due in each assessment period, and the bracket depends on the previous year’s gross annual revenue. With the empresa de pequeno porte (small business) ceiling at R$ 4.8 million, the brackets are: from R$ 4.8 to 19.2 million, 15%; from R$ 19.2 to 38.4 million, 10%; above R$ 38.4 million, 7%. The rule is in Decree nº 880/2025, art. 470, § 2, item VI, of Annex 6 of the RICMS/SC (the Santa Catarina ICMS regulation). This is how companies in Brazil do it; readers abroad do not pay tax in Brazil, but the math shows how far a single Santa Catarina company can go. Below, the calculation with examples.

Where the brackets come from

The decree does not state amounts in reais. It defines the brackets as multiples of the “small business gross revenue limit” in LC 123/2006. LC 123/2006, a Lei Complementar (complementary law), art. 3, item II, sets that limit at R$ 4,800,000.00 in gross annual revenue.

Multiplying:

Decree bracket	Gross annual revenue	Credit limit
From the small business ceiling up to 4 times	R$ 4.8M to R$ 19.2M	15% of ICMS due
Above 4 up to 8 times	R$ 19.2M to R$ 38.4M	10%
Above 8 times	More than R$ 38.4M	7%

If LC 123 changes the ceiling, the brackets change with it. That is why the table above holds as long as the ceiling is R$ 4.8 million.

The revenue that counts is the one declared in the DIME or the EFD for the previous year (the company’s state tax filings). It is not the month’s sales or the projection for the current year.

What “ICMS due in the period” means

The percentage applies to the ICMS due in the assessment period, which for most companies is the month. § 3 removes from the base:

• ICMS under substituição tributária (tax substitution, where another company in the chain collects the tax);
• ICMS under tax liability for third parties;
• tax assessed with a crédito presumido (presumed tax credit) in place of credits for inputs.

So if the company pays R$ 100,000 of ICMS in the month, but R$ 40,000 of it is tax substitution, the base for PIE is R$ 60,000.

Three locks besides the percentage

The credit for each period must respect, at the same time (items III to V of § 2):

1. the bracket percentage (15%, 10% or 7%);
2. the amount actually transferred to the project;
3. the balance due on the tax in the period before the credit is taken.

The lowest of the three applies. A company that transferred R$ 5,000 cannot take R$ 7,500 of credit just because the bracket allows it.

Examples with round numbers

Company A, revenue of R$ 10 million in the previous year, ICMS due of R$ 50,000 in the month, no tax substitution:

• bracket: 15%;
• monthly limit: R$ 7,500;
• if it transfers R$ 7,500 in each of 12 months, it reaches R$ 90,000 in the year.

Company B, revenue of R$ 30 million, ICMS due of R$ 200,000 in the month, of which R$ 50,000 is tax substitution:

• base: R$ 150,000;
• bracket: 10%;
• monthly limit: R$ 15,000.

Company C, revenue of R$ 100 million, consolidated reporting for five establishments in Santa Catarina, tax payable of R$ 1 million in the month:

• § 10 percentage: 7%;
• monthly limit: R$ 70,000.

The state cap: 0.5% and R$ 75 million

Above each company’s limits sits the program limit. In each year, the sum of all companies’ credits is limited to 0.5% of the state share of the previous year’s ICMS revenue and to the amount set by an ordinance of the State Finance Secretary, of up to R$ 75 million (§ 2, items I and II).

In February 2026, FESPORTE reported (FESPORTE is Santa Catarina’s state sports foundation) that the program has R$ 75 million, reaches 150 municipalities and has 97 projects underway. If the cap is reached before the end of the year, the credit moves to the following fiscal year (§ 4). Companies that give early in the year run less risk.

Note: the 0.5% appears in some promotional materials as if it were “0.5% of the company’s ICMS”. That is wrong. It is the state cap.

Common calculation mistakes

• Using the current year’s sales instead of the revenue declared for the previous year.
• Including tax substitution ICMS in the base.
• Taking the full percentage without having transferred the amount.
• Ignoring the balance due for the previous period.
• Applying 15% when the company reports on a consolidated basis, which uses 7%.
• Forgetting that the credit requires prior registration in SAT (the state tax system) (§ 1). Without it, no percentage applies.

What this limit means for Muaythai in Balneário Camboriú

According to the 2025 media kit of FECAMTT, the Santa Catarina Traditional Muaythai Federation, the Muaythai nas Escolas (“Muaythai in Schools”) project was approved under PIE/SC for R$ 100,000.00. For a company in the 15% bracket with R$ 50,000 of monthly ICMS, that is a little over 13 months of credit; for a 10% company with R$ 200,000 of ICMS, five months. In other words: a single mid-sized Santa Catarina company can fund a year of free after-school Muaythai for the children served by the project.

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. See Muaythai nas Escolas and the full roadmap in how to sponsor through PIE/SC.

How to do it today

1. Ask your accountant for the gross revenue declared in the DIME or the EFD for the previous year.
2. Find the bracket in the table above.
3. Take last month’s ICMS due, remove tax substitution and apply the percentage.
4. That number is how much the company can allocate per month. Multiply it by 12 and you have the annual capacity.

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. Want to present this calculation to the Mestre and understand what the project needs? 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.