Almost 1.5 million taxpayers fell into the Income Tax trap this year, according to the Federal Revenue Service. A total of 1,474,527 statements were retained. The number is equivalent to 3.2% of the 45,481,689 declarations for the 2024 financial year, sent from March to September.
Of the total declarations retained, 1,047,503 have taxes to be refunded, representing 71% of the total included in the fine mesh. Another 394,679 (27%) have tax to pay and 32,345 (2%) have a zero balance (neither to pay nor to refund).
According to the IRS, deduction problems were the main reason for declarations to be withheld, in 57.4% of cases. Only errors or omissions with medical expenses accounted for 51.6% of the total reasons for retention. Other expenses with deduction problems, according to the Tax Authorities, are contributions to official pensions or private pensions and child support payments.
In second place, with 27.8%, is the omission of income. Unreported income includes salaries, lawsuits and rental income.
Discrepancies between the Income Tax amounts withheld at source and declared by the individual represent 9.4% of withholdings. Another 2.7% are related to deductions linked to donations to funds to support children, adolescents and the elderly and to projects to encourage sports and culture because the donations were made in the same year in which the declaration was submitted, and can only be deducted next year.
The Revenue also recorded 1.6% of declarations withheld due to differences between the information provided by the taxpayer and that provided by payers of income received cumulatively. There is also 1.1% withholding due to the difference between the amounts of carnê-leão and supplementary tax payments reported and the amounts recorded in the Tax Authority database.
Rectification
The IRS began sending correspondence to taxpayers with fine-meshed declarations. The objective is to warn that, in the event of an error in the declaration presented, this is the time to self-regulate the situation.
The IRS advises taxpayers included in the fine mesh to check the statement, to verify the pending issue, and rectify the declaration. The extract can be viewed at Virtual Service Center (e-CAC) from the Federal Revenue Service. To access the websitethe taxpayer must provide either the digital certificate (if they have one), or login to the Gov.br Portal or enter the CPF/CNPJ number, access code and password.
When entering e-CAC, the taxpayer must click on the “My Income Tax” link on the left side of the screen. Then, a timeline appears with the latest statements delivered. Just check the 2024 declaration to see if the document fell through the cracks and the reason for the pending issue.
The taxpayer then has three options to resolve the problem. One of them is to make the correction through a rectifying declaration, without fine or penalty. The declaration will be processed and returned to the refund queue, being paid in the next residual batch.
If the taxpayer is summoned or notified by the Federal Revenue Service, it will no longer be possible to rectify the declaration. In this case, it is possible to present, virtually, all receipts and documents that attest to the amounts declared and indicated as outstanding.
The Digital Process for the Fiscal Mesh must be opened in website of the e-CAC. The taxpayer simply needs to enter the “Where can I find” space and consult the “Tax Mesh – Service” field. If you do not want to send the documents in advance, the taxpayer can wait for a communication from the IRS detailing the documents that need to be presented and a deadline for delivery.
