By Roberto Abdenur

Tax evasion is one of the factors that most compromise the development of an economy, especially when it comes to the economy of an emerging country, such as Brazil. All sorts of justifications are used by tax evaders, from the high tax burden, through the complex steps to pay taxes, to corruption among those responsible for the destination of the tax.

Although totally or partially true, in the vast majority of cases these justifications end up being used more as pretexts for a practice that has been eroding the health of the national economy: unfair competition. In order to face the problem, mega operations are carried out now and then. In August, for example, the Federal Police carried out one of these initiatives, with coordinated actions in the Federal District and in 17 states. The objective was to recover R $ 1 billion in deviated taxes from the public coffers. The operation was supported by the Federal Revenue Service and the Public Ministry.

These operations are very important, as they are part of the inspection effort. But prevention is also essential to avoid tax evasion.

In this case, technology can help. Especially when it provides the necessary resources for product tracking, from production to sale to the consumer. Mechanisms to track and control products have been developed in initiatives by companies and civil society institutions that have the collaboration of the Union and Federation units.

Two systems have had good results: the Beverage Production Control System (Sicobe) and the Cigarette Production Control and Tracking System (Scorpios). They are two sectors of the economy very well organized, but which often suffer unfair competition because they are in the sights of some producers eager to obtain competitive advantages through tax evasion.

There is yet another mechanism that should help States a lot in combating tax evasion. Result of a joint effort between the government of Bahia and ETCO, the BI NF-e should consolidate itself as a great ally in this struggle. Its immediate adoption by 14 state finance departments should be added to the rapid adhesion of the other states of the Federation, in a movement similar to what occurred with the Electronic Invoice.

With the implementation of the aforementioned instruments, everyone wins. The government, in all its spheres, has more resources to apply to social improvements; the private initiative, which now has more equitable market conditions, and society in general, which can consume tested and approved quality products, from their manufacture to the point of sale.

Roberto Abdenur is President of ETCO

During the 40th edition of the National Meeting of State Tax Coordinators and Administrators (ENCAT), held in June, ETCO and the Bahia State Finance Secretariat (SEFAZ-BA) delivered the source codes and technical documentation of the BI NF- System and, or Business Intelligence System based on Electronic Invoices, for 13 Finance Departments in Brazil: Acre, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Maranhão, Paraíba, Paraná, Rio Grande do Norte, Roraima, Santa Catarina, Sergipe, in addition to the Federal District. More recently, on July 15, it was SEFAZ Amazonas' turn to become the 14th Secretariat to join the system.

ENCAT, which takes place every three months, is responsible for coordinating, at the national level, projects such as the Electronic Invoice (NF-e). In the June edition there was also a presentation lecture on the BI NF-e with the participation of ETCO representatives. “After the excellent results obtained with the implementation of the Electronic Invoice, this is undoubtedly a fundamental initiative to continue combating tax evasion and improving the business environment in the country”, says Roberto Abdenur, executive president of ETCO .

The delivery of the system is based on the Cooperation Agreement signed in September 2009, whereby SEFAZ-BA committed to making all source codes and technical documentation available to other Secretariats interested in implementing the system. The BI NF-e, developed by Microsoft in conjunction with the Bahia Finance Secretariat and ETCO, was delivered for use on April 19. The tool will be important in the inspection of the segments required to issue the Electronic Invoice and, consequently, it will also contribute to increase the collection of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS).

The deadline for the BI to work completely will depend on the adaptation work of each State, since it is the responsibility of each one to install the application and integrate with the database, connecting this system to the NF- database. and the respective taxpayer register, which each secretariat already has. After this stage, it starts operating in the same way as it has been in Bahia, as it has already been designed so that it can be used by any Federation Unit.

Implemented and tested by SEFAZ Bahia, the system has already shown results in combating tax evasion. “We did three trainings and saw that some areas have already used the tool to analyze taxpayer operations, identifying deviations and acting on them”, says SEFAZ Bahia's Tax Automation manager, Jadson Oliveira.