The National Union of Fuel and Lubricant Distribution Companies (Sindicom), an entity that represents the largest fuel distributors in the country, presented this Tuesday, 22nd afternoon, to senators and deputies, in Brasília, a complementary bill that seeks to characterize the figure of the regular tax debtor, with mechanisms to differentiate him from the eventual debtor, as well as punishment. The project targets the sectors in which taxes are relevant in the composition of prices and which have a production or marketing chain that impairs the efficiency of the control of tax evasion, and not only the fuel segment, in which R $ 4,8, XNUMX billion are withheld annually, according to a study by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation.

Leonardo Gadotti Filho, Sindicom's executive chairman, says that the default debtor causes a competitive imbalance and should be differentiated from the eventual debtor, who may be facing cash flow problems. “The law cannot consider everyone the same. It is necessary to make a differentiation ”, he explains. “We intend to involve society in the discussion, so that it supports decisions in Congress. This is a big problem, which we intend to expose on social media. ”

The complementary bill is authored by Senator Ana Amélia (PP-RS) and will be considered in the Senate. The justification, which the Broadcast, Grupo Estado's real-time news service, had access to, mentions that there are cases in which the value of taxes exceeds the profit margin of the product, making it impossible for competition between payers and tax evaders, and that traditional means of fiscal control have proved insufficient to combat corporate structures organized to evade taxes.

“As a result of the numerous practices to avoid paying due taxes, which are not infrequently associated with crimes such as smuggling and counterfeiting, it is estimated that, only in the sectors of cigarettes and fuels, subject to high tax charges compared to other products , about R $ 8 billion are evaded annually ”, says the justification.

The project provides that the Federal Government, States, Federal District and municipalities may establish criteria for the fulfillment of tax obligations, such as maintaining uninterrupted inspection in the establishment of a taxable person; anticipation or postponement of the taxable event; concentration of tax incidence at a certain stage of the economic cycle; compulsory installation of production, marketing and stock control equipment; adoption of an estimation regime; among other measures.

The text of the bill also provides that the administrative authority may change the status of the taxpayer in the taxpayer register to the suspended or canceled modalities. The cancellation would be justified by reasons such as evidence that the company was constituted for the practice of structured tax fraud and for the production, commercialization or storage of stolen, stolen, falsified, adulterated goods or in non-compliance with the standards established by the regulatory agent and / or competent supervisory body.

Sindicom has a program called Legal Fuel, which seeks to combat defaults, tax evasion, adulteration of the content and quantity of products sold to consumers. The entity has tried to create jurisprudence that differentiates the incumbent debtor from taxes from the eventual and strengthen the Special Taxation Regimes. Other measures sought are the concentration of taxation on the most solid link in the chain, production - which is in line with current discussions with the government on PIS / Cofins; and the uniformization of the ICMS tax rates for fuels among the states.

To access the full text of the project, click here