Source: O Globo - 20/11/2012

Average charge here is 20%, against 8% charged to Americans

Roberta Scrivano

If the bill that details the tax bite has the presidential sanction on the invoice, the consumer will realize that he pays a lot of tribute not only to buy appliances and cars, but also to purchase basic products, such as rice and beans. On average, the load on basic food products in Brazil is 20%, against 8% in the United States and 6% in Japan.

Rice and beans are the items with the lowest tax in the basket, 17,24% each. The sugar rate is 32,33%. Specialists in taxes also recall that the average of 20% of the taxes of the basic basket takes into account the products in natura. In addition to them, it is necessary to pay for the preparation, such as stoves, pots, cutlery, which have an incidence of 28% or more of taxes, which would swallow part of the basket discount. According to Gilberto Amaral, president of the Brazilian Institute of Tax Planning (IBPT), the basic foodstuff tax reaches 31%:

- Nobody eats raw. The price of ready-made food is very high, especially when compared to other countries.

'Good for the consumer and the government'

Amaral stressed that the high tax rate and the absence of government compensation for basic services, such as school, health and safety, give relevance to the bill, approved last week in the Chamber, which proposes to explain the tax percentages to the taxpayer. IBPT, alongside the São Paulo Commercial Association (ACSP), led the development of the project in 2006.

- Having a rate of 17% or 20% on so-called basic necessities is a lot. It is also necessary to remember that the basic basket is destined mainly to the lower income classes, who also have their wages taxed - evaluated Marcel Solimeo, economist at ACSP.

The average Brazilian load is 35%. This means that, in a supermarket purchase of R $ 100, at least R $ 35 is to pay taxes, and the difference goes to pay off the products. Solimeo said that, with the implementation of the bill, the tax system will be more transparent and allow consumers to collect their rights from the State. Amaral said that putting taxes on the bill is good for the consumer, who now knows how much he pays, for the merchant, because it makes it possible to show the real price of the product, and for the government, for “expanding the exercise of democracy.”

ACSP has already developed a model of invoice with the field of taxes, to facilitate commercial establishments to adopt the new rules. IBPT, in turn, is developing software that provides merchants with rates for each of the 17 products and services in the Brazilian market.