Source: Valor Econômico, 30/06/2009

Street vendors, bricklayers, seamstresses, hot-dog vendors, marketers, hairdressers, manicurists and artisans, among other professionals included in a list of 171 categories of informal workers, as of July 1, will be able to legalize their situation, with the entry into force Complementary Law 128/2008, which creates the legal figure of the individual entrepreneur (MEI). The requirements: annual revenue of up to R $ 36 thousand and having only one employee.

The advantages range from access to Social Security benefits to the facility to open a bank account and obtain financing. Informals total about 19,2 million across the country, 3,5 million of them in the state of São Paulo alone, according to a recent survey conducted by Sebrae-SP. The government expects to attract 10% of the total to the MEI by the end of 2010.

Without bureaucracy, the worker can become an individual entrepreneur in a maximum of 30 minutes, says Edson Lupatini, secretary of Commerce and Services at the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC). "Just access the Entrepreneur Portal and make your registration in the National Register of Legal Entities (CNPJ), in the Commercial Registry, Federal Revenue and in Social Security", he says.

With the situation legalized, the entrepreneur will spend between R $ 52 and R $ 60 monthly, depending on the industry: R $ 52,15, if he works in commerce or industry; R $ 56,15, if you are a service provider; and R $ 57,15, if you practice mixed activity (commerce or industry and provision of services).

The amounts are fixed, regardless of income and they already include INSS (11% of the minimum wage), ICMS (R $ 1) or ISS (R $ 5). By virtue of the law, the entrepreneur will have free assistance, for one year, provided by the 20 accounting offices included in Simples Nacional, guarantees José Maria Chapina Alcazar, president of the Union of Accounting Services Companies in the State of São Paulo (Sescon). “We negotiated the inclusion of accounting companies in Appendix 3 of Simples and, in return, we assumed with the government the commitment to provide this service”, he says. “We are going to guide the process of opening the company, accompany, train and train those interested. The office that refuses will be disqualified from Simples. ”

Chapina recommended that all members of Sescon-SP, including those not in Simples, adopt the initiative. “Individual entrepreneurs are potential customers, as they can grow and become big companies.”

Banks are also eyeing the new entrepreneur. Banco do Brasil, for example, has already made available to the MEIs an account opening at a monthly cost of R $ 5, in addition to a credit line with a minimum limit between R $ 1 thousand and R $ 2 thousand, depending on the annual turnover. “A private bank has already consulted me and I know that others are interested,” says Chapina.

Before setting up the company, the interested party, in addition to seeking the guidance of an accountant, should consult the local city hall to find out about the municipal positions and obtaining the business license, warns Júlio César Durante, accounting and tax consultant at Sebrae -SP.

This issue concerns the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM), says Paulo Ziulkoski, president of the entity. "We are in favor of formalization, because it will generate jobs and income, in addition to tax revenues for the municipalities, but the process of implementing the MEI cannot be done at the touch of a button," he warns.

Ziulkoski recalls that cities have legislative autonomy, code of postures, health and environmental laws. "If the safety of the community is put at risk, due to a breach of any posture, the city will be held responsible." Edson Lupatini, of the MDIC, states, however, that in the act of formalization, the entrepreneur will sign a declaration committing himself to fulfill the municipal postures. "Within 90 days, if the city notifies breach of the commitment, the registration is automatically canceled".

Potential entrepreneur candidates, however, still hesitate to join MEI. Research carried out by Sebrae in February, in five capitals, revealed that, among the obstacles to adhesion, there are mistrust in relation to the public sector, fear of control over the category, the increase in taxes, the costs of legalization and the bureaucracy.

But there is a contingent, integrated mainly by informal sectors of industry and services, that sees formalization as a way out for growth. Salesman Carlito Pereira Vianna, 47, and his wife Maria Eliane Alves dos Santos, 44, who live in the Morro Doce neighborhood, west of São Paulo, fit the latter profile.

They were practically out of the job market. The two went to the fight and, at the suggestion of a hairdresser friend, six months ago started making scarves and turbans for patients undergoing chemotherapy. "People in this condition usually lose their hair and, especially those with low income, do not have the money to buy a wig," says Eliane. The bet worked. Currently, the couple manufactures between 60 and 80 pieces a week, places them in specialized stores, and invoices about R $ 3 thousand a month. They have already consulted Sebrae and will join MEI.

In this regard, points out Ricardo Tortorella, CEO of Sebrae-SP, the law goes beyond pure and simple formalization. "This is an important public inclusion policy, which will benefit millions of Brazilians regardless of the minimum rights provided for in the Constitution, such as retirement for age and disability, pension for death and maternity salary", he says. According to him, about 50 million Brazilians are outside the social security system. For the consultant Newton Conde, professor at Fipecafi-USP, the MEI represents an advance, both for the insured and for the INSS. "If there is reasonable adhesion, the inflow of funds in the short term will relieve the Institute's coffers", he says.

More information: www.portaldoempreendedor.gov.br