AGU requests suspension of the payroll tax relief process from the Supreme Court

On the night of this Wednesday (15), the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) filed a request with the Federal Supreme Court (STF) to suspend, for 60 days, the process that deals with the exemption from the payroll of 17 sectors of the economy and municipalities with less than 156 thousand inhabitants.

According to the agency, the federal government reached an agreement with the president of the Senate Rodrigo Pacheco, last week, to reinstate the payroll tax reinstatement gradually, starting next year.

On April 25th, STF minister Cristiano Zanin issued an injunction that suspended the exemption. In this Wednesday’s request, the AGU requested the suspension of this decision for 60 days to allow the processing of bills in the National Congress that deal with the matter. If no project is approved during this period, the suspension of the exemption comes into effect again.

The minister’s injunction was then put up for referendum in the Court’s virtual plenary, but a request for review (request to better examine a certain process) suspended the judgment. The score was 5 votes to 0 to confirm Zanin’s decision to suspend the payroll tax exemption.

Understand

The payroll tax exemption was created in 2011, on a temporary basis, as a way of replacing the 20% social security contribution — paid by the employer on the payroll — with rates ranging from 1% to 4.5% on revenue. gross.

The measure would expire in December 2023. However, as it currently benefits 17 sectors of the economy, in August last year, the National Congress approved a project that extended the exemption period until 2027 and reduced the social security contribution rate for municipalities with up to 156 thousand inhabitants. In November, the Executive vetoed the project in its entirety and, the following month, Congress overturned the veto.

Subsequently, the government issued a Provisional Measure (MP) that gradually reburdened companies’ payrolls and canceled the tax exemption for small municipalities. As the decision did not go down well in Congress, in February this year, the government issued a new MP revoking parts of the previous measure.

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad did not rule out judicialization and that is why the government filed the action with the STF.

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By Brasil 61