For Haddad, Senate may leave tax reform with fewer exceptions

The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, said this Tuesday (11), in Brasília, that he hopes that the Federal Senate will vote on the text of the tax reformapproved by the Chamber of Deputies last week, with fewer exceptions.

“The Senate has the role of filing the text, which means making it rounder, lighter, with fewer exceptions. Because it is a clean, crystalline text, which will not pose a problem of judicialization in the future”, commented the minister.

For him, senators do not need to worry about leaving a House mark on the tax reform because “the Chamber of Deputies incorporated 60% of the (Proposal for Amendment to the Constitution) PEC 110, from the Senate. The mark is already given. The PEC was incorporated by the rapporteur.”

Choice criteria

From the agenda that Haddad will have with the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, this Tuesday, to address the issue, the minister stressed that the Executive Branch does not have the prerogative to appoint the rapporteur for the tax reform in the National Congress. “But we can talk about criteria for choosing the rapporteur, which can help in the process”, he signaled.

Regarding article 20 of the tax reform, which deals with the taxation of the agribusiness and mining sectors in the country, the Minister of Finance understands that the last minute changes generate concern because they have not been much debated. He said that disagreements can be analyzed later.

“There is no problem in the Senate enacting a constitutional amendment that is consensus and leaving what, eventually, is controversial for another opportunity”, he opined. The minister said that now is the time to move forward. “The reform is too important to make an issue like this an impediment for people to advance in what (is) essential”, he stressed.