Brazil Wrongful Charge Restitution and Double Refunds
Not every wrongful charge in Brazil gets refunded twice over: repetição de indébito, the legal action to recover money wrongly charged, follows different rules depending on whether the relationship is consumer, civil or tax related, and on the date the charge was made. This calculator applies the correct rule to each charge entered and updates the amount from the date it was paid; this guide explains what decides between a simple refund and a doubled one, and why that decision is never automatic across every case.
Because the charge happened after March 30, 2021, the CDC Article 42 sole-paragraph doubling applies automatically, under the rule set in EAREsp 676.608/RS, without the consumer having to prove the supplier's bad faith.
Before the EAREsp 676.608/RS threshold, doubling a consumer charge depended on proven bad faith; without that proof, restitution stays at the simple, updated value from the date of disbursement.
Federal taxes never double in restitution, even when the charge was wrongful: CTN Article 165 and Lei 9.250/1995, Article 39, §4, both provide for a simple refund only, updated by SELIC accumulated monthly.
It is the right to recover wrongfully paid amounts, provided in CC arts. 876 to 883 and, for consumers, in CDC art. 42, sole paragraph.
No. Doubling only applies in a consumer relationship, under CDC Article 42, sole paragraph, and only automatically for charges made after March 30, 2021, under STJ's EAREsp 676.608/RS; charges before that date, ordinary civil relationships and wrongly paid taxes follow other rules, often resulting in a simple refund.
Because that is the publication date of EAREsp 676.608/RS, decided by the STJ's Special Court, which gave prospective effect to a shift in doubling doctrine: charges made after that date double regardless of bad faith, while charges made before it only double if the supplier's bad faith is proven.
No. Restitution of federal taxes wrongly paid is always a simple refund, under CTN Article 165 and Lei 9.250/1995, Article 39, §4, updated by the SELIC rate as the single index for both monetary correction and interest; the CDC Article 42 doubling does not apply to tax relationships.
It counts from the date of disbursement, meaning the wrongful payment itself, under STJ Súmula 43, not from when the lawsuit was filed nor from the ruling that recognizes the wrongful charge; when doubling applies, it applies to the value that is already corrected and bearing interest, not to the charge's historical value.
⚠️ Educational estimate. Confirm applicability of double refund with attorney before filing.
Charge 1: R$ 937,66
CDC art. 42, sole paragraph; CC arts. 876-883 and 940; STJ EAREsp 676.608/RS (modulated 03/30/2021); Law 9.250/1995, art. 39, §4 (federal taxes).