The delivery of the Income Tax declaration may appear to be completed after submission, but, in some cases, the process does not end there and a notification may appear that raises doubts and some concern, especially when the taxpayer was just waiting for the refund.
According to , one of these situations occurs when discrepancies are detected between the declared data and the information that the Tax Authority has registered, which can delay or even block the progress of the process.
According to the same source, these situations are not necessarily serious, although they require attention, as they can prevent the payment of tax and, consequently, suspend the refund until everything is clarified.
What is behind these divergences?
Discrepancies arise when the values indicated in the declaration do not coincide with the data reported to the Federal Revenue Service by entities such as employers, banks or other bodies, which creates a discrepancy that the system automatically identifies.
In practice, this means that what was declared does not correspond to what appears in official records, although, in many cases, this difference results from simple errors or information incorrectly communicated by third parties. sFor this reason, and despite generating alarm, a divergence does not necessarily imply fraud, and is often just a problem of data inconsistency.
Most common situations that lead to alerts
Among the most frequent causes are differences in declared income, especially when the value indicated does not correspond to what was reported by the employer, which happens more frequently than one might imagine.
Discrepancies may also arise when there is undeclared income, such as rent, interest or capital gains, or when there are transactions, such as the sale of properties, that were not correctly included in the declaration.
Furthermore, collection deductions can generate inconsistencies when the values presented do not coincide with the data sent by service providers, which leads the system to signal the situation.
In some cases, it all comes down to a filling error, such as an incorrectly typed number or a displaced decimal place, which, although simple, can trigger the entire process.
How to know if you have a discrepancy
The notification may arrive by letter, if this method is active, but it can also be consulted directly on the Finance Portal, which is why it is advisable to regularly monitor the status of the declaration.
Therefore, even without receiving any physical notice, the taxpayer must access the portal and check if there are any discrepancies associated with the process, as communication is not always immediate. On the portal, there is a specific area where it is possible to consult the details of the irregularity, including its origin, the period to which it refers and the options available for resolution.
What to do and what the options are
After being notified, the taxpayer has 15 days to act, and can choose to justify the original declaration, if they consider it to be correct, or to present a new, corrected version. If you believe that the information is correct, you must present a justification accompanied by supporting documents, while, if you identify an error, you must correct the declaration using the option available on the portal.
In both cases, the entire process can be handled online, although, in more complex situations, it may be useful to contact a finance service to clarify any doubts.
Refund is on hold until resolved
Until the disagreement is resolved, the settlement process is suspended and therefore the refund is not issued, which can significantly delay the receipt of the expected amount.
Furthermore, if it is necessary to correct the declaration, the initially calculated value may change, resulting in a different value, whether higher or lower. For this reason, it is advisable to simulate the declaration again before sending any changes, in order to avoid surprises.
Penalties depend on time and impact
The eventual imposition of fines depends on the moment in which the situation is regularized and the impact that the correction has on the final accounts, and there are different scenarios.
If the correction is made within the 15-day period, there is no penalty, but if it is made outside this period and results in more tax to be paid, there may be a fine. In cases where there is no harm to the State, the penalty may be reduced or even non-existent, which depends on the assessment of the Federal Revenue Service.
In the end, and although it may seem like a complex process, disagreements in Income Tax are, in most cases, resolved with a few simple steps, as long as attention is paid to deadlines and details that make all the difference, according to Ekonomista.
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