Starting this Friday (13), Brazilian companies from 23 sectors of the economy can join the Accelerated Depreciation Program at the Federal Revenue Service. The federal government initiative accelerates the reduction of taxation for a period of 2 years for entrepreneurs who acquire capital goods, such as machinery, equipment, devices and other new instruments.
Under the program developed by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services (MDIC), in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, a company that acquires a capital asset will be able to deduct its value from future Corporate Income Tax (IRPJ) and Social Contribution on Net Income (CSLL) declarations, within 2 years.
The federal government’s objective is to modernize the Brazilian industrial park by replacing machines and, as a result, increase productivity and industry competitiveness, in addition to gaining energy efficiency.
First phase
For this first stage, the federal program allocated R$3.4 billion in financial credits for the purchase of machinery and equipment, R$1.7 billion this year and the other half next year.
In an interview at the Mdic, in Brasília, the vice-president and minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin, explained that the measure is advantageous for national businesspeople and does not harm the government.
“It’s a wonderful help. The government is not giving up revenue, there is no fiscal impact. It’s just a flow, but it helps a lot with the flow of companies. Instead of depreciating [o bem] in 15 years, I depreciate in 2 years. So, I reduce the Corporate Income Tax and I reduce the Social Contribution on Net Profit”, he said.
The measure will not have a fiscal impact on the federal government, since, according to Alckmin, it is not a tax exemption, but rather an advance tax reduction. Whatever the government fails to collect at this time, it will recover in the following years.
Economic sectors and goods
THE Decree No. 12,175signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which regulates the first stage of the program, was published in Official Gazette of the Union this Friday.
The text contains a list of economic activities that can benefit from the differentiated conditions of accelerated depreciation and the respective maximum limits of annual tax waivers authorized.
The sectors covered include the manufacturing of paints and varnishes, pharmaceutical products, plastic products, rubber, wood, paper and cellulose, as well as metallurgy, footwear, textiles, IT and electronics, vehicle parts and accessories and civil construction.
According to the minister, the choice of activities took into account sectors that do not have special taxation regimes, with tax incentives.
This Friday, a interministerial ordinance from the Ministries of Finance and Development, Industry, Commerce and Services details the 286 types of equipment and machinery that can be included in the accelerated depreciation list.
How it works
The Mdic explains that, usually, the reduction is gradual, done over up to 20 years, as the asset depreciates, due to wear and tear from use, natural causes or normal obsolescence.
The reduction in accelerated depreciation taxation will apply to new machinery, equipment, devices and instruments purchased this year, as described in the interministerial ordinance.
With the accelerated depreciation provided for in the new decree, the reduction in the value of machines acquired until 2025 can be done in just two stages: 50% in the year in which the equipment is installed or goes into operation and 50% in the following year.
Adhesion is done at the Federal Revenue Service.
Impacts
Minister Geraldo Alckmin estimates that, with the Accelerated Depreciation Program, the difference in the purchase value of a machine or equipment can be reduced, on average, by 4% to 4.5%.
The program also aims to stimulate private investment in Brazil. In this sense, Geraldo Alckmin mentioned that studies by private banks indicate that the federal government’s initiative, in this first stage of the program, has the potential to leverage investments of around R$20 billion, with repercussions on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP, the sum of goods and services produced in the country) and job creation.
Alckmin said that the federal government is considering implementing a second phase of the Accelerated Depreciation Program to cover other economic sectors, in the 2025-2026 biennium, with the volume of financial credits in tax deductions that will still be analyzed.
