Tax reform will be negotiated after Lira’s trip, says Haddad

“We do not want to vote on this PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) with only 308 votes. We want to vote with a lot of support because it is something for society, for Brazil. It’s a slow transition, but one that points in the right direction. So we have a lot of work ahead of us”, said the minister upon his return from the Planalto Palace, in the early evening.

Until next Wednesday (28), Lira will be in Portugal, where she will participate in a forum for debates on Brazilian politics and economy. Last week, Lira stated that she intends to make a concentrated effort and votenext week, the tax reform, the new fiscal framework and the changes in the voting system of the Administrative Council of Tax Appeals (Carf), administrative court of the Federal Revenue Service.

In mid-afternoon, Haddad was summoned by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to meetings at the Planalto Palace. The minister informed that he had met with the Minister of Labor, Luiz Marinho, to discuss issues related to the Severance Indemnity Fund (FGTS), and with the Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, to discuss the version of the Crop Plan aimed at to family farmers. Haddad did not provide details about the two encounters.

In the morning, the minister had declared that he was confident in the approval of the tax reform and ruled out new concessions, arguing that the impact of the reform is diluted over time. According to the report presented last Thursday (22), there will be eight years of transition for the adoption of the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS) and the Contribution on Goods and Services (CBS) and 50 years of transition from the change in the collection of the tax at the destination (place where the goods are purchased).

“In the final stretch of a complex negotiation, everyone is speaking out. But you have a collegiate representative of the people, representative of the Federation, the Chamber and the Senate. And you will have a conclusion of the process. I am very confident”, declared the minister.

Regarding the project that restores the government’s tie-breaking vote in CARF, Haddad said it was necessary to overcome impasses that had occurred since the voting system was changed, in 2020.

“The way it was (with the companies having the tie-breaking vote), it couldn’t continue. To give you an idea, we went from R$ 600 billion in litigation to R$ 1.3 trillion and, if nothing happens, this could rise to R$ 2 trillion according to projections by the Federal Revenue Service, which is the paralysis of the Brazilian State ” , warned the minister.