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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Litigation and Other Legal Matters
The Company is subject to certain contingent liabilities with respect to existing or potential claims, lawsuits and other proceedings. The Company accrues liabilities when it considers it to be probable that future costs will be incurred and such costs can be reasonably estimated. Proceeding-related liabilities are based on developments to date and historical information related to actions filed against the Company. As of March 31, 2025, the Company had accounted for estimated liabilities involving proceeding-related contingencies and other estimated contingencies of $153 million (net of judicial deposits) within non current other liabilities to cover legal actions against the Company for which Management has assessed the likelihood of a final adverse outcome as probable. Expected legal costs related to litigations are accrued when the legal service is actually provided.
In addition, as of March 31, 2025, the Company and its subsidiaries are subject to certain legal actions considered by the Company’s Management and its legal counsels to be reasonably possible of resulting in a loss for an estimated aggregate amount up to $276 million. No loss amounts have been accrued for such reasonably possible legal actions.
For further information related to contingent liabilities please refer to Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s 2024 10-K.
Tax Claims
Exclusion of ICMS tax benefits from federal taxes base
The tax claim related to the exclusion of ICMS tax benefits from the tax base of the Corporate Income Tax (“IRPJ”) and of the Social Contribution on Net Profits (“CSLL”) is described in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s 2024 10-K. On April 4, 2025, the case, whose risk of losing was deemed not more likely than not, became final and unappealable in favor of the Company in relation to the period up to December 2023. The Company had recorded a corresponding income tax benefit arising from the ICMS tax incentives from September 2021 up to December 2023, which amounted to $36 million considering the exchange rate as of March 31, 2025.
Buyer protection program
The buyer protection program (“BPP”) is designed to protect buyers in the Marketplace from losses due primarily to fraud or counterparty non-performance for all transactions completed through the Company’s online payment solution Mercado Pago (except for certain excluded categories). The Company’s BPP provides protection to consumers by reimbursing them for the total value of a purchased item and the value of any shipping service paid if it does not arrive, arrives incomplete or damaged, does not match the seller’s description or if the buyer regrets the purchase. The Company is entitled to recover from the third-party carrier companies performing the shipping service certain amounts paid under the BPP. Furthermore, in some specific circumstances, the Company enters into insurance contracts with third-party insurance companies in order to cover contingencies that may arise from the BPP.
The maximum potential exposure under this program is estimated to be the volume of payments on the Marketplace, for which claims may be made under the terms and conditions of the Company’s BPP. Based on historical losses to date, the Company does not believe that the maximum potential exposure is representative of the actual potential exposure. The Company records a liability with respect to losses under this program when they are probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated.
As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, Management’s estimate of the maximum potential exposure related to the Company’s buyer protection program is $5,546 million and $5,769 million, respectively, for which the Company recorded a provision of $12 million and $14 million, respectively.
Commitments
The Company has committed to purchase cloud platform and other technology services for a total minimum aggregate purchase commitment of $3,215 million. As of March 31, 2025, the remaining purchase commitment is $2,944 million.
The Company has signed a 10-year agreement with Gol Linhas Aereas S.A. under which the Company is committed to contract a minimum amount of air logistics services for a total cost of $331 million (portion allocated to the services component of the agreement). As of March 31, 2025, the remaining purchase commitment is $272 million.
Since October 2023, the Company has signed 3-year agreements with certain shipping companies in Brazil, under which the Company committed to contract a minimum amount of logistics services for a total cost of $53 million. As of March 31, 2025, the remaining commitment amounted to $37 million.
As of March 31, 2025, the Company has lease agreements for new warehouses in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, for a total amount of $1,364 million, that have not yet commenced. Lease terms under the agreements are between 3 to 15 years.
The Company has unconditional purchase obligations related to capital expenditures for a total amount of $34 million. As of March 31, 2025, the remaining purchase commitment is $11 million.