The mixed commission that analyzes the provisional measure that raises taxes for drinks and electronic products (MP 690/2015) postponed the vote on Senator Humberto Costa's report (PT-PE).

At this Tuesday (1st) meeting, parliamentarians suggested two changes to the preliminary opinion presented last week. Humberto Costa chose to incorporate these suggestions into the report.

The first change foresees an increase in the tax on wines, but with a reduction in the percentage each year (from 6% in 2016 to 5% in 2017), and sets the ceiling of 17% for the taxation on cachaça. The objective, according to the rapporteur, is to meet the demand of the productive sectors that criticized the way the tax increase was proposed by the government, without considering the losses to small producers.

The MP provided for an increase of 10% to 30% in the rates of the Tax on Industrialized Products (IPI) charged on hot drinks (cachaça, wine, whiskey, vodka, rum, among others).

The rapporteur chose to maintain the change in tax collection provided for in the MP. Thus, the tax starts to be levied on the value of the product (rate ad valorem), instead of the fixed amount per quantity produced (rate ad rem), as it stands today.

With the adjustments made by Humberto Costa, a bottle of national wine of R $ 50 starts to pay R $ 3 in taxes as of 2016. According to the text of the MP, the tax paid per bottle would be R $ 5. The product paid R $ 0,73 per bottle until IP edition.

Computer products

The second change adopted by the rapporteur suspends the exemption PIS / Pasep and Cofins on computer products in 2016. The benefit, however, will be gradually resumed from 2017 to 2018, when the rate on electronics will be reduced by 50% successively. In 2019, the exemption will again be granted in full.

The benefit to the sector is provided for in the Law of Good 11.196/05 - articles 28 to 30) and was part of the Digital Inclusion Program, created to expand the national production of computer equipment. The government's objective was to extinguish it on December 1 of this year.

The exemption, initiated in 2005, would remain in effect until December 31, 2018.

Source: Agência Senado (1/12)