Sendas Distribuidora, owner of Assaí (ASAI3), released on Thursday, September 3, 2026, clarifications about the hiring of tax services related to the reimbursement of ICMS withheld under the tax substitution regime (ICMS-ST) in its operations, especially in the State of São Paulo.
According to the company, the law firm ButtiniMoraes and BM TAX were hired to process large tax databases, prepare calculation worksheets, prepare digital files required by law, and administratively monitor reimbursement requests. Compensation was set at 6% of the amounts reimbursed, a percentage that the company says is compatible with the nature, duration, scale and scope of the services hired.
Assaí stressed that ICMS-ST reimbursement is not a tax incentive, but a right provided for by law when the tax paid in advance, based on a presumed value, exceeds the amount actually due on sales. The credits refer to the company’s own operations and depend on documentary evidence and review by the tax authorities.
To illustrate the scale of the work, the company reported that, in São Paulo alone, it processes on average more than 10 million sales receipts per month, with around 13 items per receipt, which represents approximately 130 million sales items per month, with continuous cross-checking of information on purchases, inventories, sales, returns and tax bases by product and store. The company stated that it has not sold or assigned these credits to third parties for consideration and has not received funds from any monetization.
Assaí also reported that it was notified in 2025 by the São Paulo Finance Department to substantiate the reimbursement processes, having responded by demonstrating the reimbursed amounts and their use in the calculation of ICMS. To date, the company says it has not received any notice from the competent authorities nor has it been the target of any legal measure or inquiry related to the reported transaction, and states that it has not made payments to public officials nor authorized the offer of undue advantage, remaining available to cooperate with any requests.
