With 436 votes for and only 2 against, the Chamber of Deputies finally approved, on Tuesday (9), the bill which classifies persistent debtors and establishes the Taxpayer Defense Code.
This is a significant, if overdue, step forward in the fight against systematic tax evasion, with positive impacts on the fight against organized crime and unfair competition – when businesses that ignore taxes are able to charge artificially low prices, stifling honest competitors and distorting markets.
The main part of the text, in progress since 2022, is the definition of objective criteria to characterize this type of debtor and more strictly sanction the use of this commercial strategy in order to obtain undue advantages over companies which respect or attempt to respect their obligations.
Anyone who experiences a significant, repeated and unjustified default on payment falls into this category. At the federal level, debt is considered substantial if it exceeds BRL 15 million and represents more than 100% of the company’s known assets, over at least four consecutive calculation periods or six alternating calculation periods within a 12-month period.
For the state and municipal levels, the values will be defined by local legislation within a year, ensuring adaptation.
There are safeguards in the event of a public calamity, and a company considered a continuing debtor will have a period of time to demonstrate that it had a recent negative result and did not seek to hide assets.
According to estimates, 1,200 CNPJs would be reached, with a potential revenue exceeding 30 billion reais per year – a significant amount, especially in the current context of fragility of the public budget.
It doesn’t take much imagination to suspect that such practices are also linked to organized crime. An example was given by Operation Hidden Carbon, launched in August, which revealed a system of money laundering and tax evasion in the fuel sector, involving fintechs linked to criminal factions and movements of 70 billion reais in one year.
To make it difficult to use the financial system for hidden purposes, the text approved by the House requires greater control and transparency in fintechs and investment funds.
Fortunately, the fear that greater harshness towards persistent debtors would open the way to a hunt for honest taxpayers facing occasional difficulties has been overcome. On the contrary, the project strengthens legal certainty, with incentives and mechanisms for voluntary compliance, such as extended payment deadlines and reductions in interest and fines.
By isolating chronic tax evaders, the project advances the fight against tax evasion and the mechanisms that fuel crime and undermine free competition. This deserves presidential sanction.
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