Tag: Evasion

Judge condemns 11 for tax evasion and adulteration of fuels in PB

Judge Geraldo Emílio Porto, from the 7th Criminal Court of João Pessoa, sentenced 11 people for a scheme discovered by the Federal Police involving tax evasion and adulteration of fuels in Paraíba. Three state tax officials and some businessmen are among those sentenced.

Convictions are for active and passive corruption and crimes against the economic and tax order, in addition to falsifying documents. Judges can appeal the sentence in freedom. The decision was published on September 27 and acquitted 17 accused defendants.

About modus operandi of the scheme, the magistrate pointed out that three of the defendants, employees of the State Tax Authorities, “as civil servants, used the position to commit crimes of passive corruption, receiving money to stop inspecting goods that entered the territory of the state of Paraíba” .

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Source: G1

Fraud of R $ 1 million in cane transport

On 15/09, within the operation “The cane is ours”, police officers from the Fazendária Police Station started a fraudulent scheme for transporting and processing sugarcane. The fraud caused a loss of more than R $ 1 million per month in evasion of ICMS. In the investigation, which started about two months ago, there was a suspicion that Usina Paineiras SA, in Espírito Santo, was buying sugarcane from Lucahe Agropecuária, in São Francisco do Itabapoana, in the north of the state of Rio, and paying more sugar cane than the Rio de Janeiro plants, to manufacture ethanol.

The police discovered that Lucahe filled out the Auxiliary Document of the Invoice (Danfe), which authorizes the transport of cane to another state, with a volume of the product well below that which was actually transported. In one of the documents seized by the police, 20 tons of cane were transported on the last day 3. During the blitz, on the 9th of this month, the agents found in the truck a receipt for this shipment of cane, but with the correct weight: 26 tons and 480 kilos. More than six tons above what was reported when transported to the plant

- During the six months of the sugarcane harvest, approximately 120 trucks per day cross the border with approximately 30 tons of cane in each vehicle. On average, the price per ton is R $ 57. This gives R $ 38 million per harvest. This transaction has led to the bankruptcy of several plants in the north of the state - said one of the investigators.

Source: O Globo Online
Collaboration: Sindicom 

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More than US $ 30 billion leaves Brazil illicitly a year, says study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than $ 30 billion in dirty money linked to crime, corruption and tax evasion leaves Brazil every year, twice as much as a decade ago, a study showed.

Irregular trade pricing is the main way that money leaves the country, accounting for 92,7 percent of the $ 401,6 billion that left Brazil between 1960 and 2012, according to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington-based research group that advocates financial transparency.

Annual losses are equivalent to 1,5 percent of Brazilian economic output, averaging $ 33,7 billion a year from 2010 to 2012, up from $ 14,7 billion in the first decade of the century 21.

But the losses are likely to be greater, said GFI, considering that its estimates do not include large amounts of money smuggling, a favorite method of moving money by drug dealers and other criminals, or in negotiations for services or financial transfers between branches of multinational corporations.

In Brazil, the informal economy has shrunk to 21,8 percent of official GDP, as the country's regular economy has grown, compared to a peak of 55 percent in the 1970s, according to the GFI. Despite this improvement, high revenue from dirty money flows is a concern.

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Source: Reuters

Ten posts in ES are assessed in Operation “Integrated Pump”

The “Integrated Pump” operation was a task force between the State Secretariat of Finance (Sefaz), the State Procon, the Institute of Weights and Measures of Espírito Santo (Ipem) and the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), and supervised the quality of products and services offered by gas stations in Espírito Santo.

Sefaz, responsible for verifying the correct issuance of tax documents, using the PAF-ECF application and its integration with supply pumps found irregularities in three gas stations: one in Vila Velha, one in Cariacica and another in Serra. Two other posts in the municipality of São Mateus had problems with registration and took notice to regularize them.

“We checked that all the pumps were connected with the application, which controls the fuel outlet. Our function was to fight unfair competition and avoid tax evasion ”, stressed Sefaz's Retail Supervisor, Leandro Kuster, explaining that these posts received infraction notices and were fined.

Ipem was present analyzing the correct measurement and operation of the pumps. According to the tax agent of the agency Carlos Junior, the intention was to prove that the amount of fuel purchased according to the dial was in accordance with the amount that actually reaches the car's tank. In three stations, one in Santa Inês, Vila Velha, the 'low bomb' was found.

“We had to verify that when the consumer buys, for example, 20 liters, he is actually receiving this amount. We have a tolerance of 100ml more or less. The majority respected this limit. It is necessary to carry out a periodic review of the pumps to check whether they are in agreement ”, explained the Inspector, who sealed the pumps for the irregular flow and also imposed fines.

The ANP was responsible for analyzing the fuel quality of the service stations. The agency, represented by Procon-ES, assessed a post in São Mateus due to quality problems (gasoline outside the specifications of the ANP), generating interdictions in two nozzles and a fuel tank and also banning another station in the same city, which operated without ANP authorization.

At the site, the ANP checked whether the amount of ethanol present in gasoline was in compliance with what was permitted by law. Samples of gasoline, alcohol and diesel oil were collected and will be thoroughly analyzed in the laboratory for the presence of substances such as methanol, sulfur and solvents, subject to irregularities.

Source: Portal ES Hoje

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I must, I don't deny it. But I also don't pay

Slowly, without fanfare, a small company became the star in the fuel distribution market in Rio de Janeiro. The company is called Rodopetro, was founded in 2004 in São Paulo, moved two years later to Rio and today leads ethanol sales in the state. It won powerful competitors such as BR Distribuidora (from Petrobras) and Raizen (merger of the multinationals Shell and Cosan). Of every 4 liters sold at stations in Rio, 1 comes from Rodopetro. There are 250 alcohol carts every month. The company's slogan appears right on the opening page of the website: “Here, ethanol is much cheaper”. And it is. The liter of alcohol sold by Rodopetro costs, on average, R $ 0,35 less than that distributed by its competitors. According to data from the National Petroleum Agency, Rodopetro, even operating only in the State of Rio, already accounts for 1% of the fuel distribution market in Brazil. How does Rodopetro do it?

If the answer had to do with efficiency, it would be an inspiring case of entrepreneurship. The answer seems to be related to another word: evasion. A 2007 state law, created to prevent evasion, determined that distributors must pay their taxes at the time when fuels enter the state - the rate of the Circulation of Goods Tax (ICMS) on ethanol is 24%. Rodopetro went to court and, in 2009, won: it could pay the tax the following month - as was the practice before the law. When paying, Rodopetro simply did not pay. According to the Attorney General of the State of Rio de Janeiro, who is responsible for collecting the debt, the official parrot is R $ 250 million. Not everything is summed up in the survey of prosecutors. The National Syndicate of Distributors, which gathers the large companies in the sector, estimates that, since 2009, Rodopetro has ignored R $ 70 million per year in taxes, for a total of R $ 350 million. That, say competitors, is the only explanation for such low prices.

The prices charged by Rodopetro are similar to those of another distributor, Trim. In February of this year, Trim was even disqualified by the Rio de Janeiro Finance Department for “unfair competition and fraudulent default”. A measure approved last December could lead Rodopetro to the same path. State tax authorities reached an agreement. It is now up to the states to decide sovereignly when taxes should be paid. Last July, Fazenda do Rio issued a decree requiring conditions for the payment of ICMS in the following month. The idea was to close in on evasion. Those who do not meet the conditions have to pay on the road - or alcohol is confiscated.

Collaboration: Sindicom
Source: Revista Época

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Police recover R $ 30 million to Pará

The Civil Police, through the Tax Order Precinct, helped to recover more than R $ 30 million for the State of Pará. It is that those involved, in order not to be indicted and, consequently, prosecuted, prefer to pay or install their tax debts. This is what delegate Paula Nyandra and Souza de Oliveira, holder of the DOT, says. This sum of money refers to the years 2013 and 2014. "These values ​​were recovered during the police investigations initiated, only with the performance of the Judiciary Police (Civil Police)", he explains.

Linked to the Division of Investigations and Special Operations (Dioe), DOT's main task is to investigate the tax crimes provided for in Law 8.137 / 90 involving state and municipal taxes. This law defines crimes against tax, economic and consumer relations. Also according to the delegate, the most common crimes basically consist of omissions and frauds committed in order to reduce or eliminate the amount of the tax. Such infractions are first detected by agents of the State Finance Secretariat (Sefa) at the time of an inspection that results in the drawing up of an Infraction and Tax Notification Notice (AINF).

From then on, the taxpayer can defend itself administratively, challenging the AINF. The civil police officer says it is important to point out that, in most cases, the crime only exists after the completion of the tax administrative process and the registration of the tax credit in active debt, in compliance with the Binding Precedent number 24 of the Supreme Court, which requires the definitive launch of the tax for the crimes provided for in law number 8.137 / 90 so that criminal prosecution can begin. “The investigation basically consists of identifying and locating the people who made up the corporate structure of the assessed company at the time of the inspected period. The aim is to find out who was responsible for the management of society, because, in crimes of this type, those responsible for conducting business are responsible for them ”, says Paula Nyandra.

The investigated are informed that, in the case of full payment of the tax debt, punishment is extinguished. “And, in the case of installments, the punitive claim is suspended. In this way, the Tax Order Precinct helped to recover for the State of Pará, through its inquiries, in the years 2013 and 2014, more than R $ 30 million ”, he reinforces. The Tax Order Precinct is a specialized unit whose constituency is the entire state of Pará. “Thus, it can be imagined that its demand is enormous, as there are many requests from the Public Prosecutor's Office based on the assessments made by Sefa. Thus, the greatest difficulty is in meeting this demand, since our staff is small. We seek to optimize the work, prioritizing cases involving higher tax credits ”, highlights the delegate.

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Source: Portal O Liberal

Scam and corruption

Source: O Globo - 06/11/2012

 

They use various devices to obtain illicit gains

An important transformation begins to take place with the gradual realization, by the population in general, that the purchase of certain products at artificially low prices is harmful to their own interests.

What is at stake in certain cases is tax evasion for acts of fraud, forgery, corruption.

Evasion that, of course, results in a reduction of resources available to government authorities for application in essential public policies, such as health, education, infrastructure.

The fuel sector is emblematic of this situation.

In it, vested interests use the most varied devices to obtain illicit gains: from fraud, through the mixture of inappropriate products, to constant appeals to the Judiciary in the search for injunctions that enable the continued non-payment of taxes.

Some companies in the sector try to achieve competitive advantages by reducing, through unethical means, the final price of the product. Although the price difference seems marginal, in reality the sale of large volumes - as is the essence of the fuel industry - generates huge undue gains.

This is at the expense of serious and responsible companies, which regularly pay their taxes.

This characterizes a situation of blatant unfair competition.

Conquering the market with the practice of non-payment of taxes, either by means of judicial remedies or by trying to offset debts with debatable assets, such as certain court orders, is something that affects the national regulatory system, stimulates unfair competition and deprives public coffers money needed to support public interest programs and initiatives.

The consumer is the biggest loser.

In view of this scenario, the courageous and forceful performance of the government of the State of Rio de Janeiro deserves full support in recovering the taxes owed by fuel companies installed in the state and who are in default or are in default.

The Brazilian Institute of Competitive Ethics (ETCO), committed to combating misconduct that damages the business environment, distorts competition conditions and damages the country's development, draws attention to the serious problem of tax evasion in marketing of fuels.

Roberto Abdenur is executive president of the Brazilian Institute of Competitive Ethics (ETCO)

Eight companies evaded R $ 100 million in Mato Grosso do Sul

Source: Tax News

Mato Grosso do Sul joined on Wednesday (9) the National Operation to Combat Tax Evasion - 2011. The operation consists of a national mobilization involving 22 states and the Federal District, Public Prosecutors, Finance Departments and partner agencies and institutions . The operation in the state involves 120 people, who are mobilizing to combat the practice of tax evasion, which has generated a loss of R $ 300 million in recent years in Mato Grosso do Sul.

The prosecutor of the Gaeco (Group for the Repression of Organized Crime), Jiskia Sandri Trentin, reveals that last year there was a tax evasion of R $ 200 million. However, it was not possible to offer the complaint, as it was necessary to make the investigations, which reached the final stage, with the filing of eight actions, totaling R $ 100.706.770,65 in 2011.

According to the prosecutor, the lawsuits are against eight companies in the food, beverage and construction sectors. The companies are located in Campo Grande (2), Itaporã (2), Paranaíba, Bataguassu, Amambai and Ponta Porã. These companies stopped registering the entry or exit of the goods, not passing the values ​​to the public coffers.

The prosecutor confided that unfortunately people end up finding it easy to evade and need to see the criminal action to realize that it is better to pay. She reports that the State Prosecutor's Office feels discouraged, as it is as if he were a collector, when this is not his purpose. Another downside is the fact that during the process the person is forced to pay what is withheld and the punishment ends when this happens. The possibility of other associated crimes is not ruled out in the case of the eight companies, but the investigations have yet to be concluded.

The IRS delegate, Flávio de Barros Cunha, reveals that in August, September and October the IRS entered 500 representations for smuggling crimes, when the merchandise cannot be sold in the country, and misdirected, when the sale is allowed, but taxes are not collected.

Cunha reveals that it is difficult to have an idea of ​​how much merchandise he can circumvent the inspection, but it is estimated that it can be large, given the amount of presentations. The Federal Revenue deposit in Campo Grande has R $ 20 million in goods. These receive legal destination, but refill deposits due to frequent seizures. In addition to Campo Grande, the State has deposits in Mundo Novo, Ponta Porã and Corumbá.

15 tax representations for criminal purposes were also presented by the State Revenue, for a total amount of R $ 15.687.627,48 withheld. As for the amounts withheld from the Federal Revenue Service, an amount of R $ 991.954,00 was determined, relating to 50 tax representations for criminal purposes sent to the Federal Public Ministry.

The campaign started this morning includes educational leafleting and inspection in commercial establishments and tax posts and aims to combat tax evasion that should have been collected from public coffers and reverted to the benefit of society.