PIE/SC: how your company turns ICMS into sport

Every Santa Catarina company that pays ICMS (state tax on goods and services) already contributes to the state. What many people do not know is that part of that tax can go straight to an approved sports project: the amount allocated comes back to the company as a credit against its own ICMS, within limits. This path is called PIE/SC, Santa Catarina’s Sports Incentive Program. This is how companies in Brazil do it; readers abroad do not pay tax in Brazil, but the guide shows how sport in Santa Catarina gets funded. Based on the text of the law, it explains who can give, what the limit is, how to do it and the mistakes that cost the most.

What PIE/SC is

According to the program’s frequently asked questions, PIE was created by the state government through Decree nº 780, of December 3, 2024, and is run by FESPORTE, Santa Catarina’s state sports foundation (Fundação Catarinense de Esporte). The logic is simple: the company deposits the funds into an approved sports project and deducts the amount from part of its ICMS.

The program works with five public calls: educational and development sport, high-performance sport, sports events, para-sport and participation sport.

The tax rule is in Decree nº 880/2025, which rewrote art. 470 of Annex 6 of the Santa Catarina ICMS Regulation. The amount the company allocates becomes a crédito presumido (presumed tax credit) in the tax calculation.

How much the company can allocate

Each company’s limit is calculated in each assessment period, on the ICMS due in the period, according to the gross annual revenue declared in the DIME or the EFD (the company’s state tax filings) for the previous year:

Company’s gross annual revenue	Limit per period
Between the small business ceiling and 4 times that ceiling	15% of ICMS due
Above 4 times and up to 8 times the small business ceiling	10% of ICMS due
Above 8 times the small business ceiling	7% of ICMS due

The empresa de pequeno porte (small business) ceiling is the one defined in federal Lei Complementar (complementary law) nº 123/2006. When the company calculates the tax on a consolidated basis, adding up all its establishments in Santa Catarina, the decree sets the percentage at 7% of the tax payable as assessed.

The credit also cannot exceed the amount actually transferred to the project or the tax balance due in the period before the credit is taken.

The state cap: the famous 0.5%

Besides each company’s limit, there is a limit for the whole program. In each year, the sum of credits is limited to 0.5% of the state share of the previous year’s ICMS revenue and to the overall amount set by an ordinance of the State Finance Secretary, which can reach R$ 75 million.

If that cap is reached before the end of the year, the decree says the credit can only be taken in the following fiscal year. That is why it pays to plan your support in advance.

Note: the 0.5% is not your company’s limit. Some promotional materials confuse the two.

Step by step to support a project

1. Choose an approved project. Ask the organization for the project number and the fundraising letter (carta de captação). According to FESPORTE, only approved projects receive the letter and can start fundraising.
2. Register the support in SAT before any transfer, entering the project and the amount. SAT is the system of the Santa Catarina State Finance Department.
3. Transfer the amount to the project’s dedicated account, opened for that project only. Do not deposit into the organization’s account.
4. Take the presumed credit in the ICMS calculation, within your 15%, 10% or 7% limit.
5. Keep the receipts for the registration and the transfer.

To use the credit, the company must also be up to date with its DIME and EFD filings and have a certidão negativa (tax clearance certificate) for debts with the State Finance Department (or a positive certificate with the effect of a clearance certificate). If the money goes back to the company, the credit must be reversed.

Who can propose projects

On the other side are the organizations. According to the program’s FAQ, a project can be proposed by a legal entity established and active in Santa Catarina (or a national sports governing body) that holds the CRED, the Certificado de Registro de Entidade Desportiva (sports organization registration certificate) issued by the State Sports Council, and has at least three years of legal existence. Individuals cannot propose.

Proposals are submitted through the Prosas platform, evaluated by a selection committee and ranked by score. Execution is monitored on the same platform, with financial reporting.

What is left out

• ICMS under substituição tributária (tax substitution) and under tax liability for third parties does not count.
• Nor does tax assessed with a presumed credit in place of credits for inputs.
• Simples Nacional (the simplified regime for small businesses): the decree’s brackets start at the small business ceiling, which is the Simples limit. For revenue below that, the text sets no percentage. Talk to your accountant before counting on the benefit.

Mistakes that make the company lose the benefit

• Transferring the money before registering the support in SAT.
• Depositing into the organization’s account instead of the project’s dedicated account.
• Confusing the company’s limit (15%, 10% or 7%) with the state cap (0.5%).
• Supporting a project without a valid fundraising letter.
• Forgetting the ancillary obligations (DIME and EFD) or letting the certificate expire.
• Confusing PIE, which is a state program and uses ICMS, with the Sports Incentive Law, which is federal and uses Imposto de Renda (income tax).

What about Muaythai nas Escolas?

According to the 2025 media kit of FECAMTT, the Santa Catarina Traditional Muaythai Federation, chaired by Mestre Paulo Ribeiro, the federation’s 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 FECAMTT for both documents before registering your support in SAT.

See the Muaythai nas Escolas page and the federation’s contact details.

What about income tax?

PIE/SC uses only ICMS. Income tax follows another law, Lei Complementar nº 222/2025, which now governs the Sports Incentive Law. There is currently no project by the Mestre or by FECAMTT able to receive income tax. This is how taxpayers in Brazil do it. If you live abroad, you do not pay tax in Brazil, but you can still support the project. If you are an individual or a company under lucro real (actual profit regime), see the legal paths available for each case on the Support page.

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