The Senate does not have rules for returning money passed on to parliamentarians to cover official travel in the event of expenses not incurred. When explaining the US$55,000 and 33,000 euros (around R$471,000 in current values) paid by the Federal Police at his residence in a new phase of the Master case, the senator said that the amounts are leftover daily allowances received for official missions.
“There is no normative provision on the return of unused amounts of daily allowances”, the Senate stated to Sheet. The only possibility of refund provided for in the rules is in the case of cancellation or early return from a planned trip. In this case, the refund of the extra amount is mandatory.
The Senate also stated that payment can be made in kind, at the discretion of the beneficiary.
“The amounts are made available to the beneficiary through a bank order (OB), with transfer to Banco do Brasil, responsible for crediting the account or, at the discretion of the interested party, payment in kind”, said the Senate, in response to questions from the report.
The daily allowances are intended to cover travel costs outside Brasília or the parliamentarian’s home state, such as accommodation, food and transportation. As there is no rule on refunds, congressmen can keep what is left.
The rules say that the amount is compensatory in nature. This way, there is no Income Tax charge.
In 2026, the daily rate is US$656.46 for senators on official missions to countries outside South America — the value is equivalent to R$3,388 at the current exchange rate, with the dollar at R$5.16. When traveling to other countries, the amount paid is US$557.03, equivalent to R$2,875.
In domestic missions, R$916.80 is paid for trips to large cities and R$726.83 to municipalities with up to 200 thousand inhabitants. Values are adjusted annually.
In addition to senators, other civil servants receive daily allowances, but payment varies according to the position. Considering only expenses on international travel and excluding missions to protect authorities, the Senate paid, between January and June 18 of this year, more than R$1 million in daily allowances for senators and civil servants.
According to a survey by Sheet on the House’s transparency portal, Jaques Wagner has received R$336,900 in daily payments since the beginning of his mandate, in 2019, at addresses linked to the parliamentarian. The government leader in the Senate claims that the difference is due to the fact that he purchased part of the money on his own.
In Jaques Wagner’s history, there is a trip to China in May this year. He received R$15,000 for nine socks a day for a technical visit to the BYD factory in the city of Shenzen. In July 2025, it was almost R$25,000 for seven nights in Washington (USA), to discuss bilateral relations.
The senator made 30 trips on official missions abroad during his term in office. He visited countries such as Japan, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
A has received payments linked to , from , in addition to an apartment in Salvador valued at R$2.5 million.
The Federal Police identified a payment of R$3.5 million from a company linked to the businessman to Jaques Wagner’s “family nucleus”, which according to Minister André Mendonça, rapporteur of the case, is evidence of closeness between the parliamentarian and the senator.
Augusto Lima was arrested in Operation Compliance Zero, which investigates suspected fraud in credit portfolios that Master sold to BRB (Banco Regional de Brasília).
The senator stated that he never received money from Banco Master, but admitted to having asked Augusto Lima to buy an apartment, under the condition that he would repurchase the property later.
“I was interested in giving, in helping my daughter buy an apartment like this. As Guga, Augusto Lima, is an investor, I said to him: ‘can you buy it? Then I will buy it back’ because the apartment is under construction. And I would have to sell my daughter’s apartment to be able to complement the apartment or for her to finance it”, stated the parliamentarian.
A Sheet revealed that the Senate’s spending on daily allowances for legislative police officers who escort senators on trips in the first five months of the year. The main reason is the increase in travel during the election year, such as
