Source: Jornal do Commercio Brasil - RJ - 29/07/2009

The rules established by Law 128/2008 to help informal workers get out of this condition complete a month this Saturday. Expert assessment is not very encouraging. As they stated, in this short period, the rule gave signs that it will not “get it”, mainly due to the bureaucracy and the way it established for the adhesion of those interested in registering as Individual Microentrepreneurs (MEI). This figure aims to remove “these entrepreneurs” from illegality, making them legal entities, subject to minimum taxation.

The law establishes minimum costs: R $ 51,15 as a contribution to Social Security, in addition to R $ 1 as a Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS) and R $ 5 as a Social Tax on Services ( ISS), if the worker is a taxpayer of these taxes. Anyone who works alone, who has no more than one employee and no more than one establishment, can be registered as an individual microentrepreneur. According to the norm, the gross revenue of the business cannot exceed R $ 36 thousand per year. In addition, the interested party cannot participate in another company as a holder, partner or administrator.

Complementary Law 128/2008 was edited to amend Complementary Law 123/2006, which created Super Simples. Although the new standard was approved in December last year, only on June 1, the provisions concerning the individual microentrepreneur came into force. Lawyer Vicente Brasil Jr. - from the Velloza, Girotto and Lindenbojm Advogados firm - explained that the government's objective in enacting this measure was not just to increase tax revenues.

Informal work is considered detrimental to the country's growth, since it does not allow the collection of any type of tax, which reduces revenue and also harms companies with unfair competition. Workers in this situation also do not contribute to Social Security; therefore, they have no rights when they fall ill or stop working. Not infrequently, informality becomes the scene of crime, with the sale of pirated products.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the number of people working in the informal sector exceeds 10 million. Another survey carried out by Sebrae of São Paulo, and recently released, points to an even greater number: 19,2 million individuals work for themselves in the country.

In the opinion of Vicente Brasil, the idea of ​​legalizing these workers is positive. The problem, according to him, is that the standard created for this purpose needs some modifications. The first concerns the form of membership. For Brazil, informal workers are not required to be micro-entrepreneurs. By law, "the registration process of the individual microentrepreneur must have a special and optional procedure".

"The fact that it is optional tends to greatly reduce the demand for workers to register and regularize themselves," said the lawyer. Vicente Brasil stated that so far the demand has been very small. According to him, in Guarulhos, only five people sought the IRS in order to enroll in the system. None of them managed to regularize the situation. This is due to another problem identified by the lawyer: bureaucracy.

Registration at MEI must be done online, on the website www.portaldoempreender.gov.br. In it, a document is generated, which the interested party must print, sign and forward to the Commercial Board of his city, accompanied by a copy of identity and CPF. The person, however, must have an email, since access to the document is through a special password, generated by the system.

The lawyer sees problems in this form of access. According to him, MEI is aimed at simple people, many of whom do not have email or even a computer with internet. Vicente Brasil also complained about the demands. At a given registration stage, for example, if it is found that the person concerned is dependent on someone else's income tax, he will have to provide the receipt number of the declaration to complete the MEI.