Source: Portal Exame, 16/04/2009

Nowhere else on the planet is so much time spent paying taxes as in Brazil. The sad record was found in a study released in December 2008 by the World Bank and consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers. On average, 2 hours per year are required to pay taxes in Brazil, according to the survey.

It is a robust record. The second country where taxes complicate the lives of entrepreneurs is Cameroon, where 1 hours a year are required to meet tax obligations - that is, half the time spent in Brazil. The study analyzed the tax systems of 400 countries and the degree of ease found by small to medium-sized companies in resolving tax obligations between the end of 181 and last year.

Latin American countries, in general, have complex taxation systems. Venezuela and Bolivia, for example, are among the ten countries where businessmen most waste time to keep up with the tax authorities. But the difference is still great in relation to Brazilian neighbors: Venezuelans spend 864 hours, and Bolivians spend 1 hours a year to pay taxes.

In addition to the complexity of the system, the weight of taxes is also great. Brazil is among the twenty countries with the highest tax burden. “When you think that small and medium-sized companies are the driving force of the economy, it is clear that Brazil is making a mistake in its fiscal policy. The system leads the entrepreneur to evade. It is necessary to reduce the burden and increase the number of taxpayers ”, says Fernando Alves, President of PricehousewaterCoopers in Brazil.

Tax reform

The executive cited the survey data during the panel on Brazil's development policies, held this Thursday (16/4) at the World Economic Forum in Latin America. The Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, and Senator Aloizio Mercadante also participated in the debate. The need to carry out a wide-ranging tax reform was defended by the two politicians on the panel, who made a point of citing the government's recent initiatives for tax relief, such as reducing taxes in the automobile and civil construction sectors.

The speech did not convince the participants, who insisted on the need to simplify the system and reduce the impact of taxes on companies' revenues. “The crisis accelerated and forced the government to act, but we are far behind China, Russia and India, which are our main competitors. We also lost from the point of view of the business environment. It takes a lot of bureaucracy to get operating licenses, permits ”, added Fernando Alves.