ISS in Depth
The municipal service tax: the service list, rate band, place of taxation and withholding, plus the company and invoice fields for service invoices (NFS-e) on the platform
ISS (Imposto sobre Serviços) is levied by more than 5,500 municipalities on the services listed in Complementary Law 116/2003. It is not documented on the NF-e but on each municipality's own electronic service invoice (NFS-e); the platform integrates the São Paulo system (Paulistana) and the national standard (NFS-e Nacional).
Scope, rates and place of taxation
- Scope: about 40 groups and 200+ items in the LC 116 list (software, consulting, repair, local transport, advertising, education, health…). Services outside the list are not taxed; mixed supplies with goods are split as the list prescribes.
- Rates: minimum 2%, maximum 5%, set per service item by each municipality. In São Paulo most services fall between 2% and 5%; software development is commonly 2.9%.
- Base: the service price; deductions are rare (construction may deduct materials).
- Place of taxation: normally the municipality of the provider's establishment; about 20 items (construction, cleaning, security, parking, events…) are taxed where the service is performed.
- Withholding (ISS retido): the service taker withholds and pays on the provider's behalf in statutory cases, e.g. when the taker is located in the taxing municipality and is a designated substitute, or the provider is not registered there.
- Simples Nacional: ISS is paid inside the DAS (Annexes III / IV / V, 2%–5% by revenue band) but the NFS-e must still be issued; MEI pays a fixed monthly amount.
- Reform: from 2029 ISS is phased down year by year and replaced by IBS in 2033.
Company-level fields (NFS-e registration)
Set through /api/nfs/company/create or the company edit endpoint; they are the defaults for every NFS-e.
| Field | Meaning | Values |
|---|---|---|
im | Municipal registration (Inscrição Municipal) | Issued by the municipality |
codigo_municipio_nfse | IBGE code of the issuing municipality | 7 digits, e.g. São Paulo 3550308 |
codigo_servico_nfse | Default service code | LC 116 item (e.g. 01.05) or the municipality's local code (5 digits in São Paulo) |
cnae_nfse | Default CNAE activity code | 7 digits |
regime_especial_tributacao | Special tax regime (ABRASF standard) | 1 municipal micro-enterprise · 2 estimated · 3 professional partnership · 4 cooperative · 5 MEI · 6 ME / EPP under Simples |
optante_simples_nacional | Opted into Simples Nacional | true / false |
serie_nfse · number_nfse | RPS series and starting number |
Invoice fields (/api/nfse/create)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
tomador | Service taker: CPF / CNPJ, name, address, e-mail. |
descricao_servico | Service description (required). |
valor_servico | Service amount (R$), the tax base. |
aliquota_iss | ISS rate (%), e.g. 2.90; Simples companies use their annex band rate. |
iss_retido | false paid by the provider; true withheld and paid by the taker. |
valor_iss | Amount override: when above 0 it replaces the automatic base × rate ÷ 100. |
codigo_servico · cnae · codigo_municipio | Per-invoice overrides of the company defaults; blank uses the registered values. |
Every municipality has its own service code table, rates and withholding rules; before onboarding a new city, confirm its standard (Paulistana, national or other) and code table.