Haddad believes in voting on projects later this week

Despite delays in voting on the tax reform, which only began to be voted on this Thursday afternoon (6), the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, said he believed it was possible for the Chamber of Deputies to vote until this Friday (7) all projects of interest to the government. The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, promotes a concentrated effort to vote this week on the reform, the new fiscal framework and the project that reinstates the government’s casting vote in the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (Carf).

“I believe it is possible to vote now. It’s the president (Artur Lira) and the leaders (of the parties) who have to see by regimentation if everything fits in two days, but even the idea of ​​putting in a virtual vote for those who eventually had already scheduled a return to their base, to be able to return from wherever you are, I think it favors the possibility of voting”, said Haddad upon returning to the Ministry of Finance.

In the early afternoon, Lira changed the rule for registering the presence of parliamentarians and released remote voting in plenary. The change aims to facilitate the approval of projects. In a press conference, the president of the Chamber ruled out the possibility of postponing the vote on the tax reform, which began to be voted at 6 pm in the plenary of the House.

In the early afternoon, Haddad met for nearly two hours with Arthur Lira at the official residence of the mayor. Then he went to the Planalto Palace, where he also stayed for almost two hours.

Although he showed confidence in the approval of the tax reform and the two projects of interest to the government, Haddad said that any delays, mainly in the new fiscal framework, could result in losses in the preparation of the 2024 Budget, which needs to be sent to Congress by 31 August.

“There are always some (risks of loss), because we are preparing the Budget. You don’t hand in the Budget on August 30th, starting to elaborate on August 10th. You don’t make a Budget in 20 days. So, the approval of the fiscal framework and the CARF helps to distribute the quotas to the ministries, a series of administrative procedures that are more solid with the pieces already approved”, declared the minister.

Haddad once again expressed confidence in relation to this week’s votes and said that the texts will probably pass with a margin similar to that of the first vote on the fiscal framework, approved in May by 372 votes to 108. “We have been very successful in the votes, we have surpassed 350 votes, approaching 400. I don’t think it will be different in these three cases”, he declared.

country project

The minister reiterated that the tax reform is not a matter for the government, but an issue that will define the future of the country for the next generations. It was in this spirit, highlighted Haddad, that this Wednesday’s (5th) meeting with the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, took place.

“When a governor comes here to defend tax reform, he is not defending a party or a government. He is defending a country project. So, we have to depolarize the debate. I have seen demonstrations, from both sides, accusing the governor. He has nothing to do with the government, but with the country. Tax reform is not Fla-Flu. The last one, it was made 58 years ago,” he noted.

Carf

Regarding the project that changes the votes in the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (Carf), Haddad again said that approval is safe, despite segments of the ruralist group showing resistance. The minister said that he had spoken this afternoon with the president of the Agricultural Parliamentary Front, Pedro Lupion (PP-PR), and had received guarantees that agribusiness agreed to approve projects of interest to the government.

“The text is closed with a wide margin of support. No problem, we got it right. When you shake hands (with a parliamentarian), it’s over. He shook hands, ended up in politics, there is no turning back”, said Haddad. He classified the work of the rapporteur for the Carf project, Beto Pereira (PSDB-MS) as excellent.