Source: Monitor Mercantil - Rio de Janeiro / RJ - 09/12/2009

The consequences of the global economic crisis in the country and the implementation this year of tax relief measures by the government did not slow down the pace of counting the “impostometer” of the São Paulo Commercial Association (ACSP) and the Brazilian Institute of Tax Planning (IBPT). On the contrary, the panel, which calculates the annual tax collection in the country since 2000, accelerated the pace and will reach R $ 1 trillion next Monday, one day before the date when the same value was reached in 2008 .

ACSP president Alencar Burti points out that the increase in the growth rate of tax collection has been observed since the creation of the board. In 2007, for example, the mechanism ended the year below the R $ 1 trillion (R $ 926 billion) mark. - This is a reflection of a poorly organized society in the fight for its rights - he criticized.

Burti stated, however, that the increase in tax collection does not necessarily mean that the Brazilian citizen pays more taxes. - This year, there was no charge for CPMF on financial transactions and there was a reduction in IPI rates - he recalls. He attributes the increase in the volume collected to the work of the Treasury, which intensified this year, according to Burti, the siege on tax evaders, increasing the number of taxpayers. - He was able to efficiently offset the collection losses generated by the extinction of some taxes and the reduction of the rates of others ”, he said.

In view of the result of the “impostometer”, the president of the ACSP reaffirmed, once again, that it does not make sense to approve bills that propose the creation of new taxes, such as that intended to revive the Provisional Contribution on Financial Transactions (CPMF) , defended this year by the federal administration. - What is needed now is the simplification of tax collection and, subsequently, the reduction of the tax burden - he said.

The growth in the amount collected by the Treasury also shows, according to Burti, that the reflexes of the economic recession in the citizens' pockets did not prevent most taxpayers from paying bills. - That's a positive side. To be able to see that, in a year of crisis, the “” impostometer ”” reached R $ 2008 trillion faster than 1. This shows that we reacted well to the effects of the recession and led us to believe that trade will have a very good end of the year - he added.

Tax reform - The president of the association anticipated that the entity is preparing for 2010, the year of general elections, a tax reform proposal that will be delivered to the main candidates for successions in the Planalto and Bandeirantes palaces, the latter seat of the Government of the State of São Paulo. The key point of the document will be the need to carry out a simplified tax collection, which reduces both the expenses of the government machine in collecting taxes and that of companies with complementary documents and obligations. According to the ACSP, the measure would also benefit workers, who would have a lower tax burden, directly and indirectly on income. - At first, simplification is the most important to promote a better distribution of tax collection. Only afterwards should a reduction in rates or cut taxes be considered - he stressed.

For the survey of federal collections in the “impôstometro”, the database used is composed of data from the Secretariats of the Federal Revenue and the National Treasury, National Institute of Social Security (INSS), Caixa Econômica Federal, Federal Court of Accounts (TCU ) and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The revenue of the governments of the States and the Federal District is calculated based on data from the National Council for Farm Policy (Confaz), from the State Finance Departments, State Audit Courts (TCEs) and the National Treasury Secretariat. Municipal collections are obtained through information from the National Treasury Secretariat, city halls, which disclose the figures in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), and the TCEs.