Government leaders are studying alternatives after the bitter defeat this Wednesday, when deputies buried the Provisional Measure issued to replace the increase in the Tax on Financial Operations (IOF). One of the possibilities would be to present bills equivalent to excerpts from the MP, so that they can be analyzed under an urgent regime by the House plenary.
By the score of 251 to 193, the majority of parliamentarians voted for it not to be analyzed by the House plenary. As the text is only valid until this Wednesday, in practice, the decision was to reject the measure.
The economic team’s estimate is a loss of R$42.3 billion by next year. The measure sought to compensate for the drop in revenue predicted in next year’s Budget and expand taxation on high-income investments and companies in the financial sector.
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The text also provided for a retroactive charge on betting houses — the so-called bets — that operated in the country before the sector was regulated, with the expectation of raising around R$5 billion.
— The choice made by the Chamber was to reject the MP. It’s not the end of the world for the government, but it shows how our opposition acts, as we enter next year’s election. To defeat the government, they can harm Brazil. The Ministry of Finance has an arsenal of alternatives. You can present a bill on an urgent basis for MP points, for example. It is natural for the IOF to return to the table as an alternative — said the government leader in Congress, Randolfe Rodrigues (PT-AP).
The overthrow represents one of the main defeats of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government in Congress, exactly one week after the approval of the project that exempts those earning up to R$5,000 from Income Tax (IR).
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The senator (MDB-AL) regretted that the Senate did not have the opportunity to vote on the MP, as the measure was overturned in the Chamber. He will be the rapporteur in the House of the project that exempts those earning up to R$5,000 from Income Tax. Renan says he still doesn’t know whether he will make compensations in the text, since the MP was rejected.
— This is very bad, it ends up affecting public accounts, not only by collecting expenses, but also by containing expenses, it is regrettable (that the Senate did not vote on the MP). I haven’t yet studied the opportunity to compensate for something in the Income Tax project — he says.
The government leader in the Senate, Jaques Wagner (PT-BA), said that next year’s electoral dispute caused the government’s defeat.
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— We are living in an election moment ahead of time, which means that sobriety is lost — he added.
The MP also envisaged initiatives that would represent cost cuts, such as the review of defense insurance. For this year, the government’s estimate was a revenue of R$10.3 billion and a reduction in expenses of R$4.3 billion. For next year, the forecast was for a revenue of R$17 billion and a cut of R$10.7 billion.
