Tax authorities want to 'rescue' large debtors with a program for bona fide companies

Brazil currently has 21.6 million active companies, but the Federal Revenue decided to propose a Bill to Congress to deal with around 0.005% of them, equivalent to 1080 CNPJs. The reason? Each has a debt of at least R$15 million with the tax authorities.

According to the Federal Revenue, the Defaulting on taxes, taxes and fees has become a modus operandi for large companies, which become defaulters strategically. The idea with PL 15/24 is to create a national registry for persistent debtors, based on objective criteria. Therefore, the plan is to offer benefits for compliance, making non-payment less attractive.

“We do not want to consider companies that act in bad faith, those that default as part of an accounting strategy”said the Secretary of Revenue, Robinson Barreirinhas.

This happens because the time taken to recognize the debt, the interest imposed and the Court's slowness in applying sanctions makes it interesting to wait for a regularization program, such as Refis.

To be classified as a persistent debtor, the company will need to have a million-dollar debt. Barreirinhas explained that the Minimum value must meet at least one of three criteria:
• be greater than the assets;
• exist for more than one year;
• and be related to a company written off (which ceased its activities) or unfit (with an irregular tax situation) in the last five years.

200
tax benefits have low governance, according to revenue data

1080
companies have debts of more than R$15 million with the tax authorities, or 0.005% of all CNPJs

The text covers three main axes.
• The first of them it is the encouragement of good practices, which should be done through the Confia (in the testing phase) and Sintonia (not yet implemented) programs. The plan is to offer good payers advantages that may involve tax credits, discounts or compensation. In Sintonia, for example, the IRS provides for a “compliance bonus”, with a progressive reduction in CSLL payments, limited to 3%.

• Another way to benefit the good payer is to speed up tax regularization processes. Nowadays, a company that pays off its debts with the Tax Authorities takes between 30 and 90 days to have its compliance certification, which hinders obtaining credit and entering public tenders. With the PL, the idea is to speed up the process by giving the entrepreneur autonomy to generate their compliance certification. In this same logic, there is the opposite path. Instead of waiting to be notified by the Tax Authorities to be able to pay off a debt (which can take between 30 and 120 days), the entrepreneur will be able to report the debt and pay it off without any added interest or punishment for 120 days.

• The third program is the Authorized Economic Operator (OAS), which already exists and will now be included in law. The OAS is intended to reward those who comply with customs obligations. Companies that are part of the program will receive the OAS Seal, which entitles them to priority in the release of goods and deferral in the payment of customs taxes.

“We are looking at the whole picture and understanding the profiles of businesspeople who take advantage of the legislation and which ones need support.”
Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance

BENEFIT OR PRIVILEGE?

Part of the crusade against tax privileges, the Federal Revenue Bill meets some of the demands of Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddadwhich wants to reduce the number of benefits given by the government. “We are looking at the whole picture and understanding the profiles of businesspeople who take advantage of the legislation and which ones need support”said Haddad.

To attack this front the Revenue mapped that there are more than 200 tax benefits with very low governance. The idea, according to Barreirinha, is to create a simplified electronic form, to be sent by companies. “Every beneficiary will have to fill out an electronic form and prove that they meet the requirements to be entitled to the incentive”, says the secretary. Those convicted of administrative improbity, for example, will not have access to tax benefits.

This registration will also be used to map persistent debtors. The idea is to give a deadline for the regularization of these taxpayers, with the possibility of broad defense. If a crime against the tax system is proven, the persistent debtor will be criminally liable, with intent..

The proposal was sent by the government with constitutional urgency. This imposes a deadline of up to 90 days for the Chamber and Senate to evaluate it. A move by the federal government to directly hit the pockets of a few companies, but which can considerably improve the business environment for everyone.