Rapporteur wants to vote on tax reform in the Chamber in early July

The Chamber of Deputies intends to vote on the tax reform before going into recess, said, this Tuesday (6), deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB), rapporteur of the proposal in the House. According to him, the idea is to vote in plenary on the first phase of the reform, which aims to simplify taxation on consumption, in the first week of July.

The parliamentarian released this Tuesday the report of the working group that spent the last three months discussing the proposal. The text still does not represent the definitive opinion, but it presents guidelines and points of consensus that will guide the substitute to be voted on. This replacement will unify the two proposals on the subject stops in the House and Senate.

The main point of the report is the creation of the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS), which will unify the following taxes: Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI), Social Integration Program (PIS) and Contribution for the Financing of Social Security (Cofins) , collected by the Union; the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), which is the responsibility of the states; and the Tax on Services (ISS), managed by the municipalities.

According to Ribeiro, the IBS, which will function as a Value Added Tax (VAT), will have few rates and exceptions. The tax will be dual, with a rate set by the Union and another rate set by states and municipalities. The collection will take place at the destination (place of consumption of the goods) and there will be a single legislation, which will replace the 27 state and Federal District tax laws.

Although he claimed to be in favor of a single VAT, with a single rate and revenue shared between the federal government and local administrations, Ribeiro said that there was no political viability to present this model. Even so, declared the deputy, the dual version “does not compromise the efficiency” of the new tax system.

“To preserve the objective of simplification, the constitutional design of these taxes must be as harmonized as possible, so that all the main characteristics of the two versions are identical. This includes definitions of taxpayers, the taxable event, the calculation base, the structure of rates, full non-cumulativeness, favored and specific regimes, among others”, he said.

excise tax

As in previous versions of the tax reform, there will be a Selective Tax (IS), which will focus on the consumption of goods and services harmful to health or the environment. This tax will affect goods such as cigarettes, alcoholic beverages or sugar-based foods, a concept that economists call a “sin tax”.

In previous versions of tax reforms, the IS would replace the IPI. According to the working group’s guidelines, the IS will now be a new tax, with the IPI being incorporated into the Value Added Tax.

non-cumulative credit

At the request of Deputy Newton Cardoso Júnior (MDB-MG), the rapporteur modified the text to make it clear that there will be no cumulative taxation (when the same tax is levied twice or more on a commodity along the production chain). According to him, the return of IBS credits (compensation for any cascading charges) will take place within 60 days, a period that Ribeiro considered “as soon as possible”.

The working group also recommended that the taxpayer be able to deduct the amount of tax charged on the front of the productive chain, even if there is no proof of payment of the tax by the previous company. To avoid complications in the cumulative system, the report said, this requirement will only be met in the future, when taxation is fully automated.

Exceptions

The report also established exceptions for the tax system. In addition to the Manaus Free Trade Zone and Simples Nacional, the following sectors will have special tax regimes: health, education, collective public transport, regional aviation and rural production.

In these regimes, the rate will be differentiated, but Ribeiro assured that it is a few cases necessary to avoid the increase in the tax burden (weight of taxes on the economy). “The working group recommends avoiding its application to sectors of the economy as a whole, limiting its application to some goods and services related to certain sectors listed in the constitutional amendment, in order to avoid an increase in the tax burden”, justified the report.

In the case of the Manaus Free Trade Zone, although it recommended maintaining the tax regime, the report did not specify a model for the region. Regarding Simples Nacional, a special regime for micro and small companies, there will continue to be unified collection of federal, state and municipal taxes in a single bill, but entrepreneurs will have the option of staying with Simples or migrating to IBS, to avoid increase in the tax burden.

There will be special treatment for the following cases: operations with real estate, financial services, insurance, cooperatives, fuels and lubricants. In these cases, the rapporteur said, there should not be lower rates, but special procedures, such as paying the tax concentrated in certain stages of the production chain. In the case of fuel, the charge will occur directly at the refinery.

cashback for poor

The working group recommended evaluating the possibility that products in the basic food basket continue to be treated differently. However, instead of the current exemption, there would be a cashback system, refund of taxes paid, for the lower income population.

The definition of how cashback works, however, will remain for a second step. The report brought suggestions, such as the one presented by congresswoman Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP), that devolution combats regional, income, race and gender inequalities, and by deputy Mauro Benevides (PDT-CE), who calls for devolution immediately upon purchase.

During the discussions of the working group, the Extraordinary Secretary for Tax Reform of the Ministry of Finance, Bernard Appy, made suggestions about how this return would take place. According to him, the cashback could be based on the Individual Taxpayer Registration (CPF) issued on the invoice, with the purchase value and the registration in the Single Registry being crossed to authorize the return.

The secretary cited the example of Rio Grande do Sul, which implemented a system to refund the Tax on the Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) in 2021 to families registered in the Cadastro Único with income of up to three minimum wages through a credit card. credit. In remote locations, without internet access, Appy suggested a direct income transfer system, complementary to Bolsa Família.