Nubank Pushes Back as Febraban Presses for Equal CSLL on Fintechs and Banks

Overview

• Febraban released a study saying fintechs face CSLL rates 5 to 11 percentage points below banks and urged equal taxation for the same financial activities.
• The federation argued fintechs enjoy higher profitability and lower costs, citing average fintech return near 37% versus about 17.5% for banks and directly challenging Nubank’s tax treatment.
• Febraban reported 2024 effective IR+CSLL rates of 22.8% for the four largest banks versus 26.5% for three major fintechs, while Zetta countered with its own estimates of 12.2% for banks and 29.7% for fintechs.
• Nubank responded that the banks’ arguments are tortuous, said it pays a 34.1% effective tax rate in Brazil, and credited fintechs with expanding access for a majority of its customers.
• The clash follows the withdrawal on October 8 of MP 1.303, which sought higher CSLL on fintechs, leaving the policy debate over tax parity unresolved.