The government () changed its strategy and, following the preference of the President of the Chamber, (-PB), will include initiatives to cut spending and revenue in a project that allows paying a lower tax to update the price of goods and properties in Income Tax.
The measures were foreseen in the , and had been included last week, in the form of tortoise, in a project that makes counterfeiting of drinks and food a heinous crime, due to the
This practice, of inserting measures into a project that have nothing to do with the original theme, is known as the political jargon of tortoise.
According to party leaders, these cuts and revenue measures, designed by the Minister of Finance, (PT), are consensual and must be approved in the plenary. For Palácio do Planalto, they are necessary to compensate for the damage caused by the House earlier this month.
Motta defended that the cut and collection measures be included in the project on property prices, reported by deputy Juscelino Filho (União Brasil-MA) that the project that creates the Special Regime for Patrimonial Update and Regularization (Rearp) is of interest to the president of the Chamber, but was stalled in the House.
Taking advantage of it as a vehicle for government measures, therefore, is a way to advance it in the plenary. The program allows movable and real estate assets to have their value updated in Income Tax with the payment of a lower percentage of tax on capital gains.
The government leader, deputy José Guimarães (PT-CE), preferred that the methanol project, as it became known, be the vehicle for the . The text is and should be voted on this week.
Last Friday (24), Celeguim had already presented what was originally planned in the MP.
Government deputies claim that the change in strategy happened for several reasons, in addition to Motta’s request. According to them, the matter regarding the valuation and taxation of properties has more to do with the government’s economic measures than the project on counterfeiting drinks.
Behind the scenes, PT deputies also say that other parties preferred that the rapporteur for the text was not in the hands of the PT and, therefore, the option for the project reported by Juscelino Filho had more appeal.
There is still discussion in the government regarding the Rearp text, which has already been approved in the Senate. There is a view that, despite allowing greater tax collection in the short term, the program compromises the Union’s revenues in the long term.
The points that will be included in the Reap project deal with cost containment, and the stricter limit for the use of tax credits to offset taxes payable, which could increase revenue by R$10 billion next year.
The measures must be the same as those currently appearing in Celeguim’s report. Included in the opinion were items such as the tightening of defense insurance rules, the benefit of a minimum wage paid to artisanal fishermen during the period in which the activity is prohibited. According to the proposal, biometrics will be required and payment will be limited to the amount provided for in the Annual Budget Law.
The text also included changes to Atestmed (an online system for granting INSS sickness benefit without the need for in-person expertise), the inclusion of the Nest Egg in the calculation of the minimum education expenses and the setting of a limit in the Budget to pay social security compensation to state and municipal regimes.
Celeguim also added to the text a tightening of the PIS/Cofins tax compensation rules. According to the deputy, the Revenue identified a significant volume of undue deductions, largely incompatible with the economic activities of taxpayers.
According to the proposal, compensations based on non-existent documents or on PIS/Cofins credits unrelated to the taxpayer’s activity will be considered undeclared (with the exception of some cases, such as transformation, incorporation or merger).
As stated, these measures are considered essential to enable voting on the 2026 Budget and meet the fiscal target. These matters are the ones that Palácio do Planalto hopes to vote on in Congress by the end of the year.
The government will still have to discuss, in a second moment, points that were in the tax increase MP, but still face resistance among parliamentarians, such as the increase in taxation of sports betting (bets) and the increase in taxation of fintechs and JCP (Interest on Own Capital, a way of remunerating a company’s shareholders).
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