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Sefaz-SP opens public consultation to debate the decree that regulates the Nos Conformes program

ConformingThe Finance Secretariat opened a public consultation in order to improve the functioning of the Conformes program, created by Complementary Law No. 1.320 / 2018, which establishes a new logic of action for the state tax authorities: support and collaboration for the taxpayer in gradually replacing the model focused on the merely punitive model.

 The initiative is pioneering and meets the needs of society, which seeks a less bureaucratic and more efficient public service, with more quality. Machete download of the Decree, which regulates the Nos Conforms.

 The project will benefit the entire population. About 140 tax guidance actions are already planned across the state by the end of the year. Work will also be carried out, actions to encourage spontaneous regularization of tax obligations, events for clarifying taxpayers and specialized guidance services in tax consultations, administrative litigation, IPVA and ITCMD, among other topics. These activities will start now in the month of May.

 All operations were and will be built through an intense dialogue with society, several class entities, economic sectors and academic groups, such as the Center for Tax Citizenship (CCiF), Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO), Associação Comercial de São Paulo, Union of Accounting Service Companies and Advisory, Expertise, Information and Research Companies in the State of São Paulo (Sescon-SP), São Paulo Institute of Public Law (IDP), Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism of the State of São Paulo (Fecomércio-SP), Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), São Paulo Lawyers Association (AASP) and the National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea).

 The proposal is in line with the tax management maturity assessment (TADAT), a methodology used by international bodies, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Source: Portal Fazenda SP (02/05)

São Paulo Finance Secretariat opens public consultation to debate the decree that regulates the Nos Conformes program

ConformingThe Finance Secretariat opened a public consultation in order to improve the functioning of the Conformes program, created by Complementary Law No. 1.320 / 2018, which establishes a new logic of action for the state tax authorities: support and collaboration for the taxpayer in gradually replacing the model focused on the merely punitive model.

 The initiative is pioneering and meets the needs of society, which seeks a less bureaucratic and more efficient public service, with more quality. Machete download of the Decree, which regulates Nos Conformes and collaborates with suggestions to further improve the program. Just fill in the form and send by 18/05 to decreenosconformes@fazenda.sp.gov.br.

 The project will benefit the entire population. About 140 tax guidance actions are already planned across the state by the end of the year. Work will also be carried out, actions to encourage spontaneous regularization of tax obligations, events for clarifying taxpayers and specialized guidance services in tax consultations, administrative litigation, IPVA and ITCMD, among other topics. These activities will start now in the month of May.

 All operations were and will be built through an intense dialogue with society, several class entities, economic sectors and academic groups, such as the Center for Tax Citizenship (CCiF), Brazilian Institute of Competition Ethics (ETCO), Associação Comercial de São Paulo, Union of Accounting Service Companies and Advisory, Expertise, Information and Research Companies in the State of São Paulo (Sescon-SP), São Paulo Institute of Public Law (IDP), Federation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism of the State of São Paulo (Fecomércio-SP), Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), São Paulo Lawyers Association (AASP) and the National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea).

 The proposal is in line with the tax management maturity assessment (TADAT), a methodology used by international bodies, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

 Share your ideas with us. Every citizen can collaborate with improvements.

Source: Portal Fazenda SP (02/05)

Why Brazil needs to join the LEGAL FUEL MOVEMENT

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Initiative supported by ETCO seeks to mobilize society against increasing fraud in the sale of gasoline, alcohol and diesel

 

LEGAL FUELMost Brazilians and many authorities are still unaware of a serious problem that has been occurring in Brazil: after a period of reduction, fraud in the fuel sector has grown again. As a result, there has been default
in the payment of taxes, higher incidence of selling stolen cargo, product adulteration, with a mixture of cheaper substances and with lower taxation, and also fraud in the meters of the supply pumps - the so-called low pump. These practices degrade the competitive environment and harm everyone: consumers, honest businessmen, the state that fails to collect taxes and the population that depends on services financed by taxes, such as education, health and security.
Alerting the population about the existence and growth of these problems and joining forces to combat them is the purpose of an action supported by ETCO and led by the National Union of Fuel and Lubricant Distribution Companies (Sindicom). This is the Legal Fuel Movement, which started to be prepared in November 2016 and was officially launched in August 2017. “This sector is very affected by unfair practices”, says ETCO's executive president, Edson Vismona. "In addition to the impacts of the economic crisis, the right companies suffer from having to compete in such a price-sensitive market with dishonest competitors who resort to the most varied illicit devices to sell cheaper."

In the last few years, cases of fuel adulteration, cargo theft and low pump have been increasing, which harm honest competitors, consumers and the country as a whole.

A NEW DISEASE
LEGAL FUELThe director of Strategic Planning at Sindicom, Helvio Rebeschini, explains the reasons that led to the creation of the Movement. “As of the end of 2014, we noticed a deterioration in the market from a competitive point of view and the growth of new illegal practices, different from those that had occurred in the past. The disease is now different, and the old remedies no longer work ”, explains Rebeschini. “At the same time, we note that there continues to be a high degree of ignorance among the population, the media and authorities about the importance of our segment to people and the damage that these frauds cause to the country. The Legal Fuel Movement aims to raise awareness among society , join forces and implement a set of actions to curb these practices. ” Fraud is not new in this segment. They were uncommon until the early 1990s, when there was strong State control over the distribution and sale of fuels, which were priced at a fixed price. The deregulation of the sector, which on the one hand generated more competition, also started a wave of fraud from the end of the decade. At that time, one of the most serious problems was tax evasion, which subsequently evolved into a period known in the sector as the “war of injunctions”: to continue to evade, some companies entered the courts challenging the new regulatory rules and the tax laws that were being implemented by the regulatory agency and the tax authorities. Another common problem was the adulteration of
fuels with a mixture of less taxed and therefore cheaper products, which made selling prices artificially
minors.
THE REASONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Initiatives that had the support of ETCO and Sindicom managed to revert this situation around 2005. Rebeschini cites, among the most effective, the adoption of tax substitution in the sector, which started to concentrate tax collection in the first link of the production chain. , represented by fuel producers and importers. Another important instrument, according to
the president of ETCO, was the implementation of the Electronic Invoice, whose development had the effective participation of the Institute.
“This was one of the greatest advances in combating tax evasion in all segments,” says Vismona.
The battle against adulteration included actions such as mandatory orange coloring of anhydrous ethanol, a type that is mixed with gasoline, and the adoption of tougher laws against criminals. In São Paulo, for example, since 2006 companies accused of adulteration are subject to the loss of state registration.
CASCADE EFFECT
“Fraud never ceased to exist, but between 2005 and 2013 they were more or less controlled”, recalls the director of Sindicom. The deterioration seen in recent years has a number of reasons. “In part, it has to do with the economic recession, with impacts on demand and cost pressure. This ended up putting pressure on companies and taking some of them to illegality ”, says Rebeschini. “And the fiscal crisis also caused restrictions on the public budget and ended up weakening the inspection bodies. "
But the main factor was the emergence of the figure of the persistent tax debtor, a phenomenon that began to be observed in 2010, but became more acute in the following years. This is a new form of judicial battle, now no longer in search of injunctions to allow tax evasion, but to sustain deliberate tax defaults. “The fraudster realized that owing taxes, even on purpose and for long periods, does not cause him very serious problems. He knows that if he adulterates or evades, he is criminalized, so he adopted the motto 'I must, I don't deny it and I don't pay'. Usually, they are companies without equity, partners that are not always true and that have nothing to lose ”, explains the director of Sindicom. These companies rely on the slowness of administrative and justice processes and the lack of updating of the legislation that differentiates the eventual debtor of taxes from the defaulting debtor, who does
that practice your business strategy. The remedy to combat this new evil involves the regulation of a constitutional provision that allows different treatment against such taxpayers (*). According to Rebeschini, the incumbent debtor ends up triggering other frauds. “It's a ripple effect or a wave effect. A gas station buys fuel from a distributor that pays no taxes and reduces its prices. Its neighboring competitors, in order not to lose customers, give up their profitability for as long as they can take it, from then on they close their doors or sell the business to a fraudulent competitor or end up going to irregular trade. The unscrupulous enter the business of stolen cargo, adulteration of fuel, "low pump" and so on, "he observes.
In addition to harming consumers and honest competitors, these frauds divert billions from public coffers. Together, ICMS evasion and defaults produce an annual loss of R $ 4,8 billion, according to a study by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation. Money that could be used to build or improve hospitals, schools, security and other public services.

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Tighten the siege against the heavy debtor

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New legislation of the State of Paraná

starts to differentiate the default bad debt

 

Decree No. 3.864, published by the Government of Paraná on April 14, starts to differentiate the regular debtor, creating specific rules and sanctions for those who make default a business model that, according to experts, configures unfair competition and damages public accounts . The executive president of ETCO - Sindicom's partner institute on this issue -, Evandro do Carmo Guimarães, estimates that the gap caused by these debtors in the accounts of the Union and the states is at least R $ 3 billion per year.
Luciana Printim, head of the Paraná State Revenue collection sector, says that the impetus for the new legislation came from the conclusion that there were many taxpayers “who make their default not an occasional thing, a time of difficulty, but a repeated thing; persistent practice. We started to realize that this was not being fair competition with the others, who pay their taxes correctly ”, describes Luciana, adding that the tax that is not paid increases the profit margin of those who do not pay.
The state of Rio Grande do Sul was a pioneer in this differentiation and has one of the most important specific laws against the country's persistent debtor. It was created in 2011 and has since managed to recover R $ 17 million owed by these taxpayers and reduce by 26% the number of companies in this situation. Luciana clarifies, however, that the legislation of Rio Grande do Sul was studied and considered valid, but even so, there are differences between the laws of the two states. “The main difference is that they do not allow the customer of a frequent debtor to have ICMS credit. Our intention is to punish the debtor, not the client, ”he says.
Luciana also explains that there are several sanctions that apply when serious debtors are identified. They include the loss of tax benefits, in addition to the obligation to collect the tax per operation (for each sale) and not for calculation (only once a month). “The taxpayer will be notified and will have 30 days to qualify. Our main objective is for him to stop this practice, which is not sectoral ”, he concludes, counting that this month (May) the first batch of notifications will be made to regular debtors.
According to ETCO's executive chairman, long-term debtors are usually wholesale or distributor companies. “It is common for this business to be in the name of oranges, it has no equity. Thus, true partners escape punishment, ”says Evandro. The executive president also indicates that the profit margin can be increased considerably through this practice. “If it is a company that distributes fuels, it can represent up to 30% of the product's price; if it is a cigarette, up to 70% of the product price ”, he points out.
The importance of the actions developed by ETCO, together with Sindicom, to better explain the difference between the persistent debtor and the one who occasionally experiences some financial difficulty promotes the creation of legal tools to combat this practice, also emphasizes Evandro.
“We hope that the Federal and State legislatures also separate these two different types of defaulters. In a country where the active debt of the states and the union is huge, it is very important to separate the types of debtors ”, he concludes.
Source: Sindicom

States must postpone new declaration of Simples

The National Council for Farm Policy (Confaz) authorized the States and the Federal District to postpone the deadline for micro and small companies taxed by Simples Nacional to send to the Tax Authorities the declaration that gathers data on the ICMS collected in the tax substitution, the differential of rates due interstate operations and anticipating

Source Economic Value (14/04)

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ETCO participates in tax simplification project

Tax SimplificationGroup that brings together large companies and associations has prepared 13 proposals that are being taken to Encat

 

Today, Brazilian companies spend 2.600 hours of work per year to comply with thousands of tax requirements. The world average is only 264 hours. To help reverse this situation, which generates unnecessary costs and risks, the ETCO-Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition is participating in a project that brings together major contributors to suggest concrete tax simplification measures to the sector authorities. The project has the support of Encat (National Meeting of State Tax Coordinators and Administrators).

According to Wermeson Santos, Indirect Tax Manager at Souza Cruz, one of the companies involved in the initiative through ETCO, "the objective is to address the needs of companies and society, as the complexity of the tax system affects everyone".

The project incorporates contributions from 15 companies and associations, including Ambev, Sindicom, Souza Cruz and Pernod Ricard Brasil, which are associated with ETCO.

In December, the group members completed the discussions and prepared a document with 13 suggestions for changes considered to be a priority, such as the use of the Public Digital Bookkeeping System (SPED) as the only channel of information related to the companies' tax and accounting deeds.

The work is being sent to Encat, which will analyze the proposals and take them to Cotepe (Permanent Technical Commission) and, later, to Confaz (National Council for Farm Policy).

Tax evasion subtracts R $ 500 billion in the year

The amount is billionaire and would certainly be missed even in years of economic boom. Approximately R $ 500 billion should stop entering public coffers this year because of tax evasion, equivalent to 18,5 times the budget of the Bolsa Família in 2015. Estimates are from the system called sonegometer, prepared by the National Union (Sinprofaz) based on data crossings mainly from the IRS.

Source: Valor Econômico (18/11)

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Contumaz Debtor and Competitive Ethics

Contumaz Debtor and Competitive Ethics

This month, Valor Econômico will hold the seminar The Debtor Contumaz and the Competition Ethics that aims to bring the discussion about the practice of the debtor contumaz in the country, the impacts caused by this figure in the state governments and in the country and what can be done to increase legal certainty and ensure ethical competition across the economy.

Date: November 16, 2015
Time: 8h to 13h30
Location: Hotel Intercontinental
Alameda Santos, 1123 - São Paulo, SP.

One of the projects in which ETCO works is the combating the persistent tax debtor, a type of company that practices unfair competition through the intentional non-payment of taxes. Check out.