Source: Jornal do Brasil - RJ - 18/11/2009

BRASILIA

A billionaire encirclement of tax evasions in nine states and the Federal District brought together more than 4 tax auditors from the Federal Revenue yesterday, in an operation coordinated by the Federal Public Ministry and the Civil Police, to try to recover at least R $ XNUMX billion.

The unprecedented action of the National Group to Combat Criminal Organizations (GNCOC) took place in Brasília, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Goiás and Rio Grande do Norte. Tax evaders will have a chance to pay the debt in installments, and if they do not pay, they will enter the active debt. All tax evasions verified in the operation are state taxes, most of them ICMS.

The areas of commerce, industry and wholesaler were the main targets of the action. Most companies are medium-sized, and the most common fraud, within the universe verified in the Federal District, was of companies with orange partners. Money laundering, fraud and product tampering were also recurring crimes during the operation.

There is still no assessment of how many companies were assessed.

The Public Ministry was surprised by the number of companies with an organized scheme.

- When we talk about tax evasion, we think of small companies, or even large ones, but individually.

But it is not rare that the crime is extremely organized - said Gercino Gerson Gomes Neto, prosecutor of the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina.

The group points out that when there is tax evasion, there is a loss for society, since 25% of taxes are earmarked for education, 10% for health and another portion for public security.

São Paulo

The frauds found in São Paulo exceed R $ 2 billion, and the actions were concentrated in the areas of electronic commerce, evasion of IPVA by fleet owners and fraud at gas stations.

The regional tax offices of the State yesterday sent 1.743 tax representations against persons responsible for tax fraud considered serious - mainly the non-payment of ICMS for tax substitution (collection of ICMS at the beginning of the chain). The sum of taxes and fines charged in these representations totals R $ 2,071 billion.

In the operation against illegal electronic commerce, called Matrix, the Secretariat of Finance, alongside the Federal Revenue Service, inspected the 10 largest companies selling illegal electronics.

According to the revenue estimates, they earn R $ 60 million per year and only pay tax on 4% of them.

These companies, usually based in homes or small offices, were located mainly in the capital.

- It is something that bothers us very much this illegal trade on the internet, of products that are usually the result of misdirection - said the coordinator of the São Paulo Tax Administration Coordination, Otávio Fineis Junior. - There is a great facility in selling products in payment of taxes.

Focus

The focus of the operation was the apprehension of documents, aiming to discover the path that the products that suffered mishap took and the sales system. Thus, they will be able to know with greater accuracy the amount withheld by these companies which, for the time being, is unknown.

The next step in this operation was the notification of sites on the internet that make sales intermediation. One of them was notified to pass on all the information about the 200 biggest product sellers.

The second operation, called IPVA-Frotistas, aimed at fleet companies in which there is a suspicion of non-payment of IPVA or collection in other States, which the São Paulo State Tax Authority considers irregular. This operation already exists in São Paulo but was intensified today, with the inspection of 54 establishments from five different companies. (With agencies)