The Secretary of Economic Reforms of the Ministry of Finance, Marcos Pinto, said on Tuesday (20) that the increase of the income tax exemption range to $ 5,000 monthly is viable and aligned with international recommendations.
The reform proposal, which the government intends to approve later this semester, provides to expand the exemption range for income up to R $ 5,000 and grant discounts to those who receive up to R $ 7 thousand. The measure has an estimated cost of R $ 25.84 billion in 2026, to be offset by a minimum tax on rents over R $ 600 thousand per year (R $ 25.22 billion) and for the taxation of dividends sent abroad (R $ 8.9 billion). The planned positive balance is $ 8 billion.
The IR Special Commission approved the call of 56 experts and authorities for public hearings by June. The works, which will include Tuesdays discussions, began with the hearing in the House of Representatives with the participation of Haddad Secretary
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Check out the main arguments presented by him to defend the approval of the package.
1. Shipping of dividends ‘OECD’ standard
During, he assured that the 10% charge on dividends sent abroad, provided for in the proposal, will not cause capital escape.
According to Pinto, taxation is within the recommended range by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), from 5% to 15%. He also stressed that the impact on foreign investment will be null and void, as the main gains of external investors, such as capital profit, remain exempt.
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2. ‘It would be no use’ to create new rates
According to the secretary, “it would be no use” to have only one higher rate for the OR, higher than the current ceiling of 27.5%, as there are in other countries such as England and the United States because the richest would still have exempt income.
“The richest in Brazil are not salaried workers and benefit from incomes that are exempt incomes. So simply creating a larger range would not advance or solve the problem,” explained the secretary, during a public hearing on the Special Income Tax Commission.
3. Expanding track would be too expensive
Pinto also argued that a full correction of the IR table would cost more than $ 100 billion annually, a value considered unfeasible by the government. “We decreased the account significantly to around $ 25 billion that we can compensate with the minimum tax,” he explained.
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4. Reducer can be discussed
Rapporteur Arthur Lira (PP-AL) stated that sensitive points, such as the minimum tax reducer, should be detailed directly in the bill-position endorsed by Marcos Pinto, who said “100% convergent” with the rapporteur.
Exemption raises questions
Despite the government’s defense, the choice of $ 5,000 for exemption caused technical criticism. Former Federal Revenue Secretary Everardo Maciel, he declined the invitation to participate in the hearing, understanding that the debate would be restricted to unrestricted support to the proposal. According to him, “all there were only called to applaud the government’s proposal.”
In a presentation that was not displayed at the hearing, Maciel questions the absence of technical justification for the value chosen. The document points out that the relationship between the proposed exemption limit and the per capita GDP in Brazil will be higher than in countries such as US, Germany, Japan and China.
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With the new limit, Brazil would reach a ratio of 0.6 between exemption and GDP per capita – higher than that of developed nations and close to that of Nordic countries. For comparison purposes, USA and Spain register 0.5; Japan and Germany, 0.4; and Mexico and Colombia, 0.3.
