The Senate approved Bill 278/2026 on Tuesday (the 1st), which establishes an incentive regime for companies involved in installing or expanding data centers in Brazil. This document, previously approved by the Chamber of Deputies in February, was stalled among senators and is now being sent for presidential sanction.
The proposal was unblocked following a meeting between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senate President Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil/AP) last week. Senator Cid Gomes (PSB/CE) was appointed as the rapporteur on this matter in the Senate.
To expedite the implementation of this measure, Cid Gomes maintained the essence of the text approved by the Chamber, which was under the responsibility of Deputy Aginaldo Ribeiro (PP/PB), making only editorial adjustments. Since the Chamber had already approved the proposal, the changes do not require a re-vote by the deputies.
The bill creates what is known as Redata, a regime that provides for the suspension and subsequent reduction of tax rates to zero on information and communication technology equipment and products used in the installation or expansion of data centers. Taxes included are the Industrial Products Tax (IPI), Import Tax, and PIS/Cofins. The text also provides for a reduction in import tax if there is no equivalent domestic production.
This measure is intended to stimulate the placement of data centers in the country—structures considered strategic for the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, high-performance computing, and others. To receive benefits, companies managing data centers must ensure all necessary electricity for their operations through supply contracts or self-generation from renewable or low-emission sources.
The inclusion of the term 'low-emission' by the senators allows companies to also enter into energy agreements generated from natural gas. This requirement is one of the conditions for accrediting businesses under Redata.
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Ceará, a state that is the political home of both rapporteur Cid Gomes and Deputy José Gimaraes (PT/CE), has data center projects in the implementation stage. One of them is in Caucaia and is expected to require energy equivalent to the consumption of approximately 4.5 million households. José Gimaraes used the text of a temporary decree in the project, which came into force last year but expired on February 25.
The tax incentives are expected to reduce the costs of installing and expanding these facilities and will also promote new investments in the country's data center sector.