Tax amount paid on products and services will have to be broken down

By ETCO
14/11/2012

Source: The State of São Paulo - 14/11/2012

Project that goes to the presidential sanction determines that the consumer is informed of the tax corresponding to each item that will acquire

 

DENISE MADUEÑO, EUGÊNIA LOPES - BRASILIA

The Brazilian consumer must be informed of the amount of taxes paid on the purchase of goods and services. A bill to that effect was approved yesterday in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, requiring the breakdown of the value of the product and taxes on the invoice. Presented to Congress in 2006 with more than 1 million signatures, the proposal has already been approved by the Senate and is now under President Dilma Rousseff's sanction to take effect.

Under the bill, the new rules will come into effect six months from now. The proposal foresees that nine taxes are levied globally on products and services.

A study by the Brazilian Institute of Tax Planning (IBPT) reveals that the tax burden on gasoline, for example, reaches 53%. Powder soap has a 41% tax, while soap and toothpaste reach 37%. When buying a shirt or dress, the consumer pays 35% of taxes, fees or contributions.

“The information will arouse in people the feeling of paying taxes. It will make visible what is being paid ”, said PSD leader, deputy Guilherme Campos (SP), rapporteur of the project at the Chamber's Finance and Taxation Commission. According to him, the invoice must bring the value of the goods or service and separately the value in reais or the percentage relative to the total taxes.

"The consumer will pay the full amount of the goods, but he will know from the note how much is tax," explained Campos. "Now, knowing how much they pay in taxes, the population can demand improvements in government services," said Deputy Cesar Colnago (PSDB-ES).

Panel. The following taxes should be computed: Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), Tax on Services (ISS), Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI), Tax on Financial Operations (IOF), Income Tax (IR), Social Contribution on Net Profit (CSLL), PIS / Pasep, Contribution for Social Security Financing (Cofins) and Contribution for Intervention in the Economic Domain (Cide).

In addition to the invoice, information on the tax burden on the product may appear on a panel fixed in a visible place of the establishment or even disclosed by any other electronic or printed means.

The government was against the proposal and tried to maneuver to try to approve another bill, which still needed to be voted on in the Senate. But, given the pressure from the deputies, the government leader in the Chamber, deputy Arlindo Chinaglia (PT-SP), agreed with the vote. He did, however, make a reservation that the project should have been preceded by a broad discussion about the Brazilian tax system.