The platform PIX, the largest means of payment Brazil, will come to Uruguay during the next summer season, based on a partnership between a Brazilian and another Uruguayan electronic payment company that will allow tourists from the northern country to use this means of payment in local businesses.
He Instant Payment System (PIX)created by Central Bank of Brazilhas been a highly observed platform since Uruguay, not only because it is the largest means of electronic payment that the neighboring country has, but also because of the possibilities it enables for the country’s own financial ecosystem. In this context, the announcement of the association of the Brazilian company PagBrasil with the local electronic payment company, Plexus, opens the doors to the arrival of PIX to the country so that tourists from Brazil can have more options when making their payments during the season.
Added to this novelty is the possibility that these purchases made through electronic payment methods will be eligible for a 9% discount on the VAT when they are linked to tourism, in areas such as hotels, car rental without a driver, and gastronomy, among others.
Pix works like a instant payment through scanning a QR code with a mobile phone or tablet and could be another option for tourists traveling to Uruguay. This year, PagBrasil launched a solution that allows the acceptance of PIX in commercial establishments located outside Brazil. Innovation in the POS allows you to make instant payments with real-time currency conversion.
In this regard, the co-founder of PagBrasil, Alex Hoffmann, He said that “it is a great opportunity to take one of the most innovative payment methods from the world to other countries and facilitate transactions for Brazilian tourists. At the end of the day, everyone wins with this union.”
The MEF seeks to incorporate electronic payments into the VAT benefit
He Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) presented an additive to the bill Accountability —which will be voted on in the Senate plenary next Tuesday— which aims to facilitate the VAT discount for foreign tourists Uruguay It is usually applied in the summer seasons to promote the tourism sector, and extend it to the electronic payment system.
tourism in Uruguay is still struggling to finish recovering from the effects of the pandemic. Covid-19 and the recent impact of the exchange difference with Argentina —which affects both internal tourism, as Uruguayans look for cheap destinations on the other side of the border, and inbound tourism, as Argentines find local proposals expensive.
For this reason, all support or promotion measures to the sector are welcome, such as the VAT discount that is applied to the purchases and consumption of foreign tourists during the summer season. The problem is that this benefit is only enabled by law for operations that are paid through debit or credit cardexcluding increasingly popular alternatives such as payments through applications and electronic wallets.
Warning this situation that can become an inconvenience for foreign tourists, the MEF presented a additive to the Accountability project which incorporates other alternative instruments issued abroad for which the VAT benefit could apply in the near future. An example is that of the fast payments by direct transfer.
“The objective is to give other tools to non-residents so that they come to Uruguay and can pay for what they consume with more modern media“, explained in Parliament the president of the BCentral Bank of Uruguay (BCU), Diego Labat.
Ultimately, the proposal aims equalize tax treatment regardless of the payment method used for the transaction, allowing access to the VAT discount benefit on all operations with media broadcast abroad.
This will be of great importance—if approved—especially for tourists coming from Brazil, where more than 25% of payment transactions are carried out with direct person-to-person mechanisms, through PIX. Although this growth trend in electronic payments can be observed in several countries in the region.
Source: Ambito
