After Rio de Janeiro and Brasília, debate on competitive ethics brought together experts at FIESP, in São Paulo

A debate attended by important personalities from the Brazilian political and business scene guided the third stage of the 10 + 10 Debate Cycle, held by ETCO on October 16 in São Paulo. With the participation of the Secretary of Finance of the State of São Paulo, Andrea Calabi, and the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic Odim Brandão Ferreira, the event, which is part of the celebration of the 10 years of ETCO's performance, was held at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP).

Once again, as happened at the Brasília event, held in August, popular dissatisfaction with corruption and the poor quality of public services was put on the table and analyzed by the panelists in the light of the importance of a new way of thinking about relations in society. "Today, we are convinced that the country has evolved more than society itself perceives and that, precisely as a result of this evolution, more and more steps forward need to be taken", declared ETCO's Executive President, Roberto Abdenur, who once more coordinated the debate.

In addition to Calabi and Ferreira, the panel was formed by the Director of Instituto Análise, Alberto Carlos Almeida, and by the Coordinator of the Specialization Course in Tax Law at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, professor Eurico Marcos Diniz De Santi, who also participated in the previous stages of the Cycle Debates, in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

Talking about the popular demonstrations that took place in June, Alberto Carlos Almeida stated that the great legacy of the demonstrations in June was "breaking the ice" and showing that the general feeling is that the population feels exploited.

Almeida also pointed out that there is a link between the demands of the population, the themes worked by ETCO and the role of the State at the present time. “Combating corruption, tax reform, improvement in public services, these are all topics that we have discussed and are part of ETCO's agenda, but it is important to understand that those who go to the streets do not know the state management process and it is up to the managers make the filter and define what is feasible and how to do it ”.

Professor De Santi, who discussed Brazilian tax legislation, reinforced his thesis that legality is in the acts of law enforcement, that is, in its concrete application. “There is no point in making tax reform if we do not change the culture of administering the laws. It takes transparency so that the rules are understood by everyone, ”said De Santi.

In his presentation, the Secretary of Finance of the State of São Paulo, Andrea Calabi, focused on the issue of tax evasion, recalling the importance of tax collection to make quality public services feasible for the population. He recalled the important advances obtained with the implementation of increasingly efficient mechanisms to combat tax evasion and support inspection. “Since the creation of the Electronic Invoice, in which ETCO has a fundamental role, there has been a great advance in the mechanisms to combat tax evasion, as is the case with the tax intelligence systems and the most recent tool, the recipient's manifestation”. For him, much remains to be done in this area to avoid losses in revenue, but he admits that “the country has already made great strides in establishing a more balanced business environment”.

The Deputy Attorney General of the Republic Odim Brandão Ferreira recalled the relevance of the discussion in the sense of “reinforcing the idea that old prejudices that prevent equality in the treatment of Brazilians are overcome”.

At the end of the debate, Roberto Abdenur stated that "we left these sections with an even greater conviction that what we are doing at ETCO is competitive ethics in the service of universal ethics in Brazil".