The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, made a public appeal this Friday (14) for the Chamber of Deputies to vote on the bill that creates a specific regime to punish persistent debtors, taxpayers who deliberately and repeatedly evade taxes. 
According to the minister, the proposal, which has been pending in Congress for eight years, is a decisive tool to financially stifle organized crime, by targeting money laundering mechanisms operated through shell companies.
The project was unanimously approved in the Senate in September and awaits final analysis by deputies. Haddad stated that he has been talking to the president of the Chamber, Hugo Motta, to try to speed up the vote. “It’s about time, it’s past time,” he declared.
The statements were made during an event by the Ministry of Education held at the Brazilian International Convention Center (CICB), in Brasília. On the occasion, the minister received the National Order of Educational Merit in a ceremony attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Public safety
Haddad emphasized that the persistent debtor’s proposal is not limited to tax issues. For him, the measure has a direct impact on public security, because it weakens the financial structure that supports criminal activities.
“Every criminal needs to launder the money from crime and uses formal procedures, opening a company, closing a company. The law on persistent debtors inhibits this practice and prevents the criminal from laundering the money and irrigating organized crime again”, he said.
According to the minister, the proposal “stifles crime and makes life difficult for criminals so that they do not make money in criminal activity”.
Operation Hidden Carbon
At the beginning of September, the Senate approved the proposal on persistent debtors. The approval in the House was driven by Operation Hidden Carbon, launched by the Federal Police at the end of August and which dismantled organized crime money laundering schemes that used fintechs and fuel distributors.
Haddad said he hopes that the Chamber will not depend on a new episode of this severity to vote on the text. “The Senate, after Operation Hidden Carbon, voted unanimously. I hope that another event of this size will not be necessary for the Chamber to raise awareness”, he stated.
Other proposals
Haddad also cited other Executive agendas in the area of security that are in Congress, such as the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) for Public Security and the Anti-Faction Bill (PL)whose rapporteur is with deputy Guilherme Derrite (PL-SP). According to the minister, preliminary versions of the report have generated concern in the government.
The approval of the persistent debtor’s project is also treated as a priority by the Minister of Institutional Relations, Gleisi Hoffmann, responsible for the government’s political articulation.
When questioned by journalists about issues such as the situation at the Post Office and the sanction of the Income Tax exemption project, the minister avoided answering. The focus of his speech, he stated, was the need to vote on the project that tightens the rules against persistent debtors.
