In the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo, payment terminals need to transmit transaction data directly to tax authorities. In this project DigitalSign Certificadora Digital and the Portuguese subsidiary of AET Europe worked together to ensure the security of real time declaration of tax. AET provided the Certificate Life Cycle Management solution named BlueX eID Management.

Critical project in Brazil with real time declaration of tax

All payment terminals that receive more than 40,000 euros each year are connected to the network of the local tax authorities, the Secretaria da Fazenda (Department of Finance). The project is named SAT-CFE (Sistema Autenticador e Transmissor de Cupons Fiscais Eletronicos), and is already live, with a mandatory adoption in the gas stations. Monthly more than 250 new Point-of-Sale locations are added.

All linked terminals have an SAT device with an electronic identification (eID) that generates a digital signature to authenticate the transaction. The device automatically transmits real-time sale information to the tax authority secured with PKI technology provided by AET and DigitalSign. Customers can validate online if the bill has been reported. The technology used eliminates the manual and periodic task of tax declaration for the POS-owners. This critical project puts an end at the evasion of the state sales tax and aims to replace the current ECFS (Issuers of Tax Vouchers). By 2020, SAT will be the standard for tax declaration.

DigitalSign as Certification Authority

In addition to the implementation of the entire project it was also necessary to migrate all the information of several existing CAs (Certification Authority) to a new management platform. This was a complex process but, as explained Álvaro Matos, CTO of DigitalSign: This process was not only to migrate cryptographic keys – that was the simplest part. All information of the CAs, the issued digital certificates and other data was migrated. The goal was to continue the operation of the CAs and its infrastructure, and all of that was achieved.

Role of AET within this critical project

AET provided the Certificate Life Cycle Management solution, BlueX eID Management which was adapted to the needs of the SAT project. The Department of Finance in Sao Paulo had demanding requirements of stability, availability, performance and scalability. Pedro Borges, Managing Director of AET Portugal about this critical project: Since the launch of this project, the 1st of July, the first successes have been achieved. BlueX eID management was specifically designed to manage the eIDs and digital keys for (networked) devices. Our solution has proved to handle extreme loads and integrate seamlessly in any infrastructure.

Jan Rochat, CTO of AET hopes that the contract with Sao Paulo’s tax authorities is the beginning of further expansion in Brazil: Brazil is one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. As its economy grows more complex, the country will require more IT security solutions. We look forward to expand our business in Brazil together with our Portuguese subsidiary.

For more details on this project: Fazenda.sp.gov.br > (Portuguese)
More details about AETs solution for Certificate Life Cycle Management: BlueX eID Management >

About DigitalSign

DigitalSign is a joint venture between AET Europe and Thomas Greg & Sons. The company is a Brazilian leader in digital certification and promotes the development of new secure technologies. The company is one of the few top level CAs (Certification Authority) to operate in the Brazilian market and the only one with European investment and know how.

Downloads

Download the press release > (English)
Download an overview of the project > (English)
Download do comunicado de imprensa > (Português)
Download de visão geral do projeto > (Português)