Source: Government of Bahia, 16/05/2008

With the objective of increasing transparency, obtaining greater efficiency in fiscal control, streamlining processes, inhibiting fraud and combating tax evasion, the Secretariat of Finance and the Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO Institute) and signed this Thursday (15) , partnership to create a Permanent Forum with the participation of tax representatives and businessmen.

The decision was taken at a meeting held at the headquarters building of Sefaz, with the Secretary of Finance, Carlos Martins, representatives of ETCO, Souza Cruz and the National Union of Fuel and Lubricant Distribution Companies (Sindicom).

According to the Finance Secretary, Carlos Martins, it is necessary that the new directions of inspection in Bahia be discussed. "For the creation of a good business environment, in which tax justice prevails, it is necessary to show that there is no intermediary between companies and the government and that, in this relationship, transparency must always prevail," he added.

A good example of the importance of this taxpayer-taxpayer partnership is the success achieved by the National Electronic Invoice Project (NF-e), another topic that was discussed at the meeting. In just over 40 days of mandatory issuance of the Electronic Invoice, more than 10 million NF-es have already been authorized, for a movement of more than R $ 151 billion.

According to contributors in the cigarette and fuel segments, the NF-e only brought positive results. Some of the benefits are the elimination of typing invoices at the reception of goods and consequent bookkeeping errors and the possibility of planning logistics due to the early receipt of information contained in the NF-e. The system also allows downtime at tax exchange offices, form acquisition costs, printing and storage of tax documents to be reduced.

Professor André Franco Montoro Filho, chief executive of ETCO, also highlighted the successful example of NF-e. “ETCO was created with the intention of always advocating for business ethics and our concern is to find mechanisms that contribute to ending unfair competition. It is in this context that the NF-e fits in, a valuable instrument to fight corruption and tax evasion. Since its implementation, we have embraced the idea and, in my opinion, this is one of the public-private partnerships that have been most successful, ”he said.

Souza Cruz's Tax Support Manager, Jesus Meijomil, highlights the strengthening of the tax-taxpayer relationship and the successful experience of the NF-e. “The success of the Nota Fiscal Eletrônica, a project in which we have participated since the beginning, proves that, with this channel of dialogue, everyone can only win. For us at Souza Cruz, the most important thing is to know that this is an effective tool to combat tax evasion ”, he said.

The State of Bahia is the national responsible for the technical and executive coordination of the Electronic Invoice Project and one of the first to process NF-es in the country. The Electronic Invoice is a document issued and stored electronically in order to document a movement of goods or services rendered between suppliers and taxpayers. Legal validity is guaranteed by the digital signature between the two parties, prior to the occurrence of the Fact Generator.

For the Secretary of Finance, Carlos Martins, it is essential that there is always space for dialogue between the Government and businessmen, to foster other successful partnerships, such as the NF-e.