Brazil's top courts strike down oil export tax by...?

In March 2026, Brazil imposed a 12% export tax on crude oil through Provisional Measure (MP) 1.340/2026. The tax has since been extended by resolutions of the Foreign Trade Chamber (Gecex-Camex), and oil producers are challenging it in court. This market will resolve to “Yes” if Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) or Superior Court of Justice (STJ) issues a qualifying ruling on the merits that the Crude Oil Export Tax, or its collection, is unconstitutional or otherwise unlawful, in whole or in part, unless the ruling leaves no taxpayer able to recover any amount paid under the tax by the specified date, 11:59 PM Brasília time (BRT). Otherwise, this market will resolve to “No”. The “Crude Oil Export Tax” is the federal export tax (Imposto de Exportação) on crude petroleum oils (NCM 2709) imposed by MP 1.340/2026 and continued by Gecex Resolution No. 938/2026 and subsequent Gecex-Camex resolutions, including any act that extends, renews, or modifies it. Changes to the tax’s rate will not affect this market; a ruling concerning the tax at any rate, for any part of the period during which it was collected, will qualify. Only the following rulings will qualify: (i) at the STF, a decision of the full court (Plenário) in a direct constitutional action (ADI, ADC, or ADPF) or in an extraordinary appeal (recurso extraordinário) decided under general repercussion (repercussão geral); and (ii) at the STJ, a decision of the competent section (Seção) or the Special Court (Corte Especial) in a special appeal (recurso especial) decided under the repetitive appeals procedure (recursos repetitivos) or in an assumption-of-jurisdiction incident (incidente de assunção de competência). The ruling must, by its own terms, apply to the Crude Oil Export Tax or the acts imposing or extending it. No separate act by the Receita Federal, the Procuradoria-Geral da Fazenda Nacional, or any other body accepting or implementing the ruling is required. A ruling finding the tax unlawful for only part of the period during which it was collected (e.g., only the period after the Gecex-Camex extensions) will qualify. A ruling that is silent on refunds, or that limits refunds to certain periods or taxpayers, will qualify. A ruling that modulates its effects so that no taxpayer may recover any amount paid under the tax will not qualify. Preliminary or interim decisions (including injunctions and decisions by individual justices not confirmed by the full court or the relevant section), decisions of lower courts, decisions whose effects are limited to the parties of an individual case, and procedural orders that do not decide the merits will not qualify. Rulings on a different export-tax measure (including ADPF 1325 as filed, which concerns the 2023 export tax) will not qualify, unless the ruling, by its own terms, also applies to the Crude Oil Export Tax or the acts imposing or extending it. The repeal, expiration, suspension, or reduction of the tax by the executive or Congress will not qualify. A ruling will qualify at the earlier of (i) the announcement of the result (proclamação do resultado) after the judgment has concluded, or (ii) the publication of the minutes of the judgment (ata de julgamento) in the official judicial gazette (Diário da Justiça Eletrônico or any successor system), provided that the ruling’s effects are not stayed or suspended at that time. If the ruling’s effects are stayed or suspended at that time, it will qualify when the stay or suspension is lifted. If, at that time, the question of whether to limit the ruling’s effects in time or scope (modulação de efeitos) is pending or has been reserved for a later session, the ruling will qualify only once that question has been decided, and only if, after that decision, at least some taxpayers remain able to recover some amount paid under the tax. Interim votes, including votes cast in a session interrupted by a request for further review (pedido de vista) or by removal of the case to an in-person session (destaque), do not constitute an announcement of the result. For judgments in virtual sessions, the judgment will be considered concluded only when the session ends with the judgment concluded, not when a majority of votes has been cast. Pending motions for clarification (embargos de declaração) do not prevent a ruling from qualifying unless the court has suspended the ruling’s effects. Qualification must occur by the specified date, 11:59 PM BRT. Once a ruling has qualified, this market will resolve to “Yes” regardless of any subsequent appeal, stay, reversal, or modulation. The resolution source for this market will be official information from the STF and the STJ, including the Diário da Justiça Eletrônico; however, a consensus of credible reporting may also be used.