VAT News – Brazil

Brazil is transitioning to an alphanumeric CNPJ (company tax ID) to address capacity limits in the current 14-digit numeric format. This change impacts all major electronic fiscal systems -NF-e, NFC-e, and CT-e – which rely on the CNPJ for validation, XML schema, barcodes, and QR codes.
Businesses must update schemas, validation rules, ERP/POS systems, and barcode logic to support the new format.

Although no official deadline has been set, the tax administration has begun preparations, and a transition period is expected where both numeric and alphanumeric CNPJs will be valid.