Summary of "Capacitação E Sfinge Tributário dia 04/11/2025"

Summary — Sfinge (Tax) training — 04/11/2025

Purpose and context

Training on the 2026 Sfinge (Tax Sphinx) layout and related procedures, aimed at municipal managers and IT teams.
Sfinge is the Tribunal’s main data-collection/monitoring system for accounting, personnel, contracts, planning and revenue. The Tax Sphinx module covers the lifecycle of tax and non-tax credits (issuance, revisions, debt registration, collections, write-off).
Submissions are monthly (per IN28): each month’s package must include only that month’s transactions. If there are no transactions, an empty package for that month must still be sent.

Important: always submit transactions in the month they occur. If a credit existing at 31/12/2025 is omitted from the Jan 2026 initial-balance table, Sfinge will consider it extinct for 2026 — you cannot later send revisions, write-offs or collections for it.

Main changes in the 2026 layout (high level)

Package flexibility
- A municipality may split a month’s submission into up to 64 packages (previously 1). This is optional and must be coordinated with the municipality’s IT provider.
Initial balance table (new)
- Every January each unit must send an initial-balance table listing all credits (not only outstanding ones) with breakdowns (principal, penalties, interest, monetary adjustment). This serves as the basis for balances in 2026 and subsequent validations.
Two balance-calculation methods
- Credits created in 2026 (no Jan 1, 2026 initial balance): balance = releases + revisions + write-offs + collections + refund reversals (as applicable).
- Credits that had a non-zero initial balance on Jan 1, 2026: start from the sent initial balance and add subsequent revisions, write-offs, collections and reversals.
CON737 (negative-balance alert) becomes prohibitive in 2026
- Negative balances will prevent package ratification. Refunds are being excluded from the balance check (formal exception will be issued).
New and changed tables/fields (selected)
- Initial balance table (mandatory in January).
- Credit-type review record: correct credit classification (e.g., IPTU reported as ISS) without canceling the original release — a formal correction.
- Property registration: support one-to-many relationships (e.g., parcels/garage + apartment), new property internal number field, CIB code (mandatory for capitals in 2026; other municipalities 2027; optional in 2026), observation field.
- Taxpayer registration: representative CPF added; representative info required only for types 01 (provisional administrator) and 02 (executor); new type 03 for “deceased without identified representative”.
- Credit release records: one-to-many links for some operations (e.g., transfers between taxpayers, system migrations); new fields such as revenue-specification code, Simples Nacional import date, observation field.
- Basic tables: removal of operation type 02 (initial implementation type), addition of credit type 15 (Simples Nacional), removal of write-off type 11 (“other”); added representative type 03.

Key operational rules and common pitfalls

Monthly principle
- Always submit transactions in the month they occur. Missing a credit in the Jan 2026 initial-balance table effectively removes it from 2026 processing.
Empty-month rule
- If no transactions occurred in a month, send an empty monthly package; otherwise you cannot submit other months.
Package splitting and cancellations
- Splitting into multiple packages is optional; if you split, manage dependencies carefully.
- Package cancellation order is reverse chronological — cancel the most recent package first. Because records reference earlier packages, canceling one package can require canceling several later packages.
- Suggested practice: keep consistent subject/content per package (e.g., all registrations in one package, releases in another) to simplify corrections.
Credit-type review vs cancel/reissue
- Use the new credit-type review record to correct classification errors. This avoids cancelling and reissuing transactions.
Refunds vs reversals
- Refund: returning collected funds to taxpayer. Accounting treatment may differ; refunds crossing fiscal years are usually recorded as budgetary expense. Refunds will be treated as exceptions to balance checks so they can be submitted even without an initial balance (formal CON wording will be updated).
- Reversal: different from refund and affects balances differently.
Tax/accounting reconciliation
- Sfinge will increase validations between tax records and accounting (CON807, CON809, and new CON817 for improvement contributions). Municipal accounting should reflect the same revenue amounts as Sfinge monthly submissions.
Outstanding debt and write-offs
- New fields and checks for debt registration and collections. Ensure write-off values match corresponding active-debt entries.
Validation strictness
- Validations will be stricter in 2026. Some checks (e.g., initial balance vs prior final balance) are eased for the first year to allow adaptation, but enforcement will tighten from 2027 onward.

Consistency rules and publications

The Tribunal published the 2026 consistency rules (CONs) in a downloadable Excel file on the Sfinge portal — recommended to download and filter by module/topic.
Important CON changes to note
- CON737: negative balances will be prohibitive in 2026 (refunds excluded).
- CON762 / 778 / 782 / 816 / 817: related to new validations (transfers, property registration numbers, refund/reversal logic, Simples Nacional, etc.).
- CON807 / 809 (and new CON817): validations comparing tax-reported revenue with accounting records; 817 covers improvement contributions.
Municipalities should review applicable CONs and resolve warnings before module or general ratification.

Reports and reconciliation (practical tools)

Most important reports
- Balance report (critical): shows initial values, initial balances where applicable, transactions, and final balances; can filter by positive/negative/zero balances and drill down to individual releases and formula components.
- Reports for CON807/809 reconciliations (accounting vs tax revenues).
- Collections-by-date report.
- Outstanding debt / active-debt reports (debt registration and movements).
- CPF/registration validity reports; real-estate rental (rental) vs IPTU comparisons.
Recommended practices with reports
- Generate and export to XLSX, apply filters, and reconcile Sfinge values to local-system values (ideally match to the cent or within a very small tolerance). If differences exist, require your IT provider to produce matching reports and fix discrepancies.
- Use reports to find small residual balances (often caused by calculation/recording errors) and to identify negative balances before ratification.
- For large/complex issues, open a Helpdesk ticket or request a meeting with the Tribunal / Sfinge team.
- Request new or customized reports from Sfinge if needed (many existing reports were user-requested).

Actions municipalities / IT teams must take (practical checklist)

Ensure monthly submission discipline
- Send an Sfinge package for every month. If no operations: send an empty package.
- Prepare and send the initial-balance table in January each year with all credits and component amounts (principal, penalties, interest, monetary adjustments).
Coordinate packaging strategy with IT provider
- Decide whether to keep one package per month or split into multiple packages (up to 64). If splitting, plan ordering and dependencies to make cancellations manageable.
Update system mappings to include new fields and tables
- Initial balance table, credit-type review record, property fields (property-number, CIB, observation), taxpayer representative CPF and representative type logic, Simples Nacional import date and related code, revenue specification code, etc.
Implement balance-calculation logic
- Apply the two methods described for credits with/without Jan 1 initial balances.
Representative handling
- Add the new representative type 03 and enforce representative data requirements for types 01 and 02.
Reconcile Sfinge reports with local system monthly
- Use balance and collection/accounting reconciliation reports. Export (XLSX) and correct discrepancies before ratification.
Use Sfinge portal resources
- Download the 2026 consistency rules Excel file and filter for tax rules.
- Review the layout manual and Table 07 (relationships between credit types and revenue natures).
Ask vendors / demand deliverables
- Require IT companies to produce automated reconciliation reports (Sfinge vs local system), and to support packaging, exports, and corrections.
- If new write-off types or other layout changes are needed, open a Helpdesk ticket to request evaluation.
Refunds and cross-year events
- Follow updated guidance (refunds may be submitted even without initial balance; report monetary adjustments from collection to refund).
- If refunds cross fiscal years, record appropriate budgetary accounting entries (expense/commitment) as required.
Before ratification
- Check all warnings and errors; do not rely only on absence of prohibitive (red) errors — resolve alerts to avoid later complications and cancellation requests.

Lessons and recommendations emphasized

The monthly nature of data is critical — entries must be sent in the correct month; the initial balance mechanism is central for 2026.
Do not postpone corrections: missing an initial balance entry can block later legitimate transactions (revisions, collections, write-offs).
Use Sfinge reports proactively to reconcile and detect issues early; do not wait to be notified after ratification.
Hold IT providers accountable: they should generate reconciliation reports and help fix mismatches. Municipalities are ultimately responsible for submitted data.
Plan packaging strategy carefully if using multiple packages per month — reverse cancellation order can be operationally burdensome.
Understand and distinguish refunds vs reversals; apply correct accounting treatment.

Where to find materials and help

Sfinge portal on the Tribunal website: layouts, manuals, consistency rules Excel file, announcements and contact/helpdesk information.
Presentation material and recording: will be uploaded to the Tribunal’s YouTube channel and shared in chat/help channels.

Speakers / named participants and questioners (as recorded)

Presenters / panel
- Maicel (appears also as Maicon / Maon / Maico / Michael — lead presenter; DGE/Sfinge team)
- Jean Rodrigo da Silva (auditor)
- Sandro (reports / IT/Sfinge specialist)
- Jadson (Q&A / technical clarifications)
Other named participants / questioners
- Marília, Marcos, Lucas, Letícia, Elcio, William, Vanderle / Vanderli, Antônio Carlos Tilman, Paulo Gustavo Capri, CBEL, Michel, Claudia, Paulo
- Organizations referenced: DGE (direction using tax data), TCE (Tribunal/portal), PGFN (Attorney General’s Office for the National Treasury)

Optional follow-ups offered

Short action-plan checklist tailored for a municipal IT team (fields to add, reports to run weekly/monthly, packaging strategy options).
One-page summary of each specific CON number mentioned (what it checks and whether it is prohibitive or an alert for 2026).