16/12/2023 – 14:00
The tax reform approved yesterday by the Chamber of Deputies, providing tax exemption only for a single basic national food basket, is more efficient and beneficial for the most vulnerable population, said the Brazilian Supermarket Association (Abras), in a statement.
“Abras has always defended that nothing is more efficient than a good and complete basic basket of exempt food”, said the association, referring to the exemption from the Tax on Goods and Services (IBS) and the Contribution on Goods and Services (CBS ) provided for in the text of the tax reform for items in the basic basket.
Abras added that “tax exemption for vegetables, fruits and eggs is also essential to avoid an increase in the tax burden”.
Maintaining only one basic basket in the tax reform was a last-minute adjustment made by the proposal's rapporteur, deputy Aguinaldo Ribeiro (PP-PB), as part of a political agreement that made the text's approval possible. Before that, the tax reform provided, in addition to the exempt basic basket, an extended basic basket, which had been included during the proposal's processing in the Senate.
The extended basket contained products that would have a reduced rate of 60% for IBS and CBS and mandatory cashback (tax refund).
When removing the extended basket of the reform, Aguinaldo said that the proposal already contained a provision providing for similar treatment for food and hygiene products that will be defined in a complementary law, “there being no sense in obliging the complementary legislator to take decisions that would be better considered in according to the resources and limitations of each era”.
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