The government closed an agreement with the National Congress to unlock the reform of the ICMS (Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services), which is state. The last obstacle was the creation of a fund that will compensate the states for changes in the tax rate. But the Minister of Finance, Joaquim Levy, sewed with parliamentarians a settlement whereby the source of funds for this fund will come from the tax collection that is obtained with the repatriation of money sent abroad without being declared to the IRS. The measure is in a bill that is already pending in Congress and will be put to a vote in the coming days.
The idea is to open a deadline for taxpayers to enter this money in Brazil, settle accounts with Leão and be amnestied for crimes such as tax evasion, foreign exchange evasion and money laundering. When the funds enter the country, they will be taxed at a rate of 17,5% in Income Tax (IR) and a further 100% fine. According to parliamentarians' calculations, the collection potential is at least R $ 40 billion, half of which would go to the state funds.
The State of São Paulo regulated the collection of ICMS in interstate electronic commerce - and other operations destined for final consumers in another region -, which will be effective as of January 1 of next year. Law 15.856, published on Friday, incorporated the changes promoted by Constitutional Amendment No. 87, which created rules for the distribution of the ICMS for e-commerce.
Despite the rule, there are still practical doubts as to how to pay the tax.
“It is not yet known how companies will operationalize the new system. And if the ICMS credit balance can be used, normally, to pay these rates ”, says lawyer Marcelo Bolognese, from Bolognese Advogados.
At the time of the amendment's edition, the coordinator of the National Council for Farm Policy (Confaz), José Barroso Tostes Neto, informed that after regulation by the States, Confaz would publish an agreement on the issue. As mentioned by Valor at the time, the system should be similar to the ICMS tax substitution regime.
“Pioneer, São Paulo has regulated that sending taxpayers must collect the differential for the destination State. It remained to say through which document the payment will be made, which must be edited through a Confaz agreement, ”says lawyer Marcelo Jabour, president of Lex Legis Consultoria Tributária. Jabour believes that this should be done by the National Guide for the Collection of State Taxes (GNRE), used in the application of tax substitution.
Delcídio do Amaral (PT / MS) and Raimundo Lira (PMDB / PB), president and vice president of CAE (Photo: Disclosure)
Senator Delcídio do Amaral (PT) was elected this Tuesday, March 10, president of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) for the 2015/2016 biennium. Upon taking office, he announced as one of the Commission's priorities in the coming months the discussion of “a great federative pact”, which will put an end to the fiscal war between the states. Senator Raimundo Lira (PMDB-PB) was sworn in as vice president. Delcídio said that the CAE is the appropriate forum for important reforms that the country requires, such as the tax and fiscal. Immediately, the new president informed that he is maintaining contacts with the Central Bank in order to schedule a public hearing with President Alexandre Tombini, who will make an assessment of monetary policy. At the next meeting, invitations to audiences with the ministers of Finance, Joaquim Levy, and of Planning, Nelson Barbosa, may be voted.
Economic Development Secretary, Seneri Paludo: Government will change policy for granting tax incentives (Photo Tony Ribeiro / MidiaNews)
The Secretary of Economic Development of Mato Grosso, Seneri Paludo, informed that the Government is making a detailed analysis of the tax incentives granted to approximately 400 companies in the State.
In an expanded study carried out through working groups, the Government intends, not only to audit the current incentives, but also to define a new tax policy in the State.
The work related to the granting of incentives is conducted by the portfolio headed by Paludo, together with the Finance and Planning departments, led by secretaries Paulo Brustolin and Marco Marrafon, respectively.
The composition of the working group and the actions to be carried out by it were determined through ordinances signed by Governor Pedro Taques in the past few days.
“In fact, six ordinances were published, one of which defines the Working Group, through which we are going to audit all tax incentives that have been granted in the State in recent times. We will assess whether all the processes took place satisfactorily and in the light of the Law ”, explained Seneri Paludo.
The measure, according to the secretary, is justified considering that, at present, there are no clear rules in the concession policy, nor the proof that the benefited companies fulfill the established goals.
“We have to look at the beneficial return that the measure brings to society. There must be a clear rule so that everyone has the same right. I cannot give to one sector, one company, and I cannot give to another. We have to have this policy clear, as to how this implementation will be ”, said Paludo, in recent interviews.
With regard to the need for a new tax policy in the State, one of the ordinances cited by the secretary mentions the “importance of a new fair tax policy that would provide opportunities for businesses, business start-ups and accelerated economic development in the State of Mato Grosso”.
The secretary informed that this new model of fiscal incentive in Mato Grosso should be presented within 90 days.
Attraction of investments
According to Seneri Paludo, a new investment attraction policy for the State is also being formatted. In this sense, the criteria and models to be applied are being discussed.
The secretary even affirmed that the Government has studied policies applied in other states.
“We are studying the Goiás model, some models from the State of Paraná, and there are some examples of success in Pernambuco as well. But the idea is for us to sit down to discuss the way of working, see how to do it and work to put it into practice ”, he said.
While auditing and remodeling work is being carried out on the policy for granting tax incentives in the State, the analysis of new orders is suspended, according to Paludo.
“The tax incentives that have already been granted have not been suspended. Companies continue to enjoy these benefits. What is suspended is the publication and analysis of new incentives that were requested ”, he explained.
Absence of inspection
In an exclusive interview with MidiaNews, at the beginning of the year, Paludo criticized the lack of supervision in granting tax incentives.
According to him, in recent years, the Government has granted incentives and benefits to large industries, without the inspection and certainty of return in terms of job and income generation.
At the time, he also stated that, despite the great potential, Mato Grosso is experiencing a moment of economic stagnation.
According to the secretary, both in the areas of industry and commerce, as well as in tourism and agribusiness, the Government has not benefited the productive chain that ranges from the smallest entrepreneur to the industries, it has only made it difficult for micro-entrepreneurs to access development policies.
A fierce federative dispute could mark the Senate's examination of the reform of the Tax on Circulation of Goods and Services (ICMS), announced as one of the government's priorities by the new Minister of Finance, Joaquim Levy, at the ceremony for the transfer of office, at Monday (5).
Initially proposed by President Dilma Rousseff, in the Senate Draft Resolution (PRS) 1/2013, the gradual unification of interstate rates has been discussed for two years by senators, with four public hearings and several meetings of the Committee on Affairs Economic (CAE).
Although the commission approved a substitute, in May 2013, several points of the proposal, such as the exceptions to unification and the compensation of losses with the change, divided the parliamentarians. The matter is now being processed by the Regional Development and Tourism Commission (CDR).
The formula then found - increasing the number of rates and not unification - displeased the government, which dropped the Provisional Measure (MP) 599/2012, one of the points on which the reform was based. It established two funds: one to compensate for the loss of revenue resulting from unification and the other to fill the post-fiscal war scenario, a regional development policy.
The other point of the tripod was the validation of tax incentives granted unilaterally by the states involved in the fiscal war. Without the vote to unify the rates, the validation did not succeed in the proposal initially sent by the Executive, which passed through the Chamber of Deputies as the Complementary Law Project (PLP) 238/2013 and, in the Senate, as PLC 99/2013. It remained in the project, which became Complementary Law 148/2014, only the part that deals with the refinancing of the debts of the states.
Convalidation becomes necessary in the face of repeated decisions by the Supreme Federal Court considering the tax incentives granted by the states without the unanimity of the National Council for Farm Policy (Confaz) to be unconstitutional. The requirement is provided for in Complementary Law 24/1975, which regulates the agreements for exemption or reduction of ICMS rates.
In the speech of job transfer, Joaquim Levy defended a reform that discourages the fiscal war. According to him, a change that at the same time reduces the tax rates at source and eliminates the legal risks of the incentives already granted will favor the resumption of incentives in the states.
Meeting between Senators and the future Minister of Finance, Joaquim Levy
After a meeting of senators from the government and opposition base with the future Minister of Finance, Joaquim Levy, the vote on the bill (PLS 130/14) that allows states and the Federal District to legalize tax incentives questioned in actions in the Supreme Federal Court (STF) stayed for next year. The proposal is part of the so-called ICMS Reform (Tax on Operations related to the Circulation of Goods and Provision of Interstate and Intermunicipal Transport and Communication Services).
PLS 130/2014 was the first item on the agenda of the extraordinary session of the Senate scheduled for shortly after the meeting with Levy. The proposal was approved by the Economic Affairs Committee (CAE) last week, in the form of a substitute presented by Senator Luiz Henrique (PMDB-SC), but there was still no consensus for voting in plenary.
A new tax burden reduction for micro and small companies is foreseen in a project approved yesterday. Products or goods subject to tax substitution, when acquired by a micro-company or small-sized company included in the Simples Nacional, may have the ICMS calculated at the rate of 3,95%.
The Rio de Janeiro State Government issued a decree that obliges the salt refining industries to redo the ICMS tax bookkeepingthe past five years. The rule was published after the unappealable direct action of unconstitutionality (Adin) No. 3.664, which revoked the tax benefit granted to the sector.
With the edition of the standard, taxpayers will have to pay all the tax that is no longer collected. Lawyers fear the measure will be applied in other similar cases.
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