The Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, defended today (31) the return of the casting vote to the Board of Administration of Tax Resources (Carf). The casting vote provides that the advisors representing the National Treasury, who preside over the Carf groups and chambers, tie the votes on tax disputes in favor of the Union. Since 2020, however, the legislation has established that, in the event of a tie, taxpayers will benefit.
“I would like to judge my own peers as all companies are doing today. But honestly, it’s a shame what’s happening in the country. There is no country in the world with this administrative dispute settlement system,” he said.
“There is no way to justify such a thing. There are no OECD countries [Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico] with that system. There is no G20 country with such a system. It is impossible for the taxpayer to judge a tax assessment notice as it is happening now. We’re talking about 20 or 30 companies that are benefiting from the taxpayer tie,” he added.
For Haddad, what is happening today at Carf affronts the jurisprudence of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on the subject. “How can an administrative body reverse a decision by the Federal Supreme Court, which is a collegiate body with 11 ministers? And someone comes to say that this is normal?
February
This morning, Haddad visited the headquarters of the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), accompanied by ministers Simone Tebet, from Planning; Esther Dweck, from Public Management and Innovation; and Carlos Fávaro, from Agriculture, in addition to the president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), Aloizio Mercadante.
At the invitation of the president of the federation, Isaac Sidney, the ministers and the president of the BNDES spoke with members of the board of the entity. The meeting was closed, but the ministers spoke to the press as they left the venue.
Alongside the Planning and Management ministers, Haddad said that the meeting held this morning with Febraban served for the government to present its new economic agenda to the banks. This agenda, according to him, is based on tax reform, the fiscal framework and changes in credit.
Yesterday, at the headquarters of the Federation of Industries of the state of São Paulo (Fiesp), the minister had presented this agenda to businessmen. Today, to the banks, the minister spoke again that the tax reform has found a favorable environment to be approved by the National Congress.
“We discussed here, in the presence of Minister Simone Tebet and in the presence of Minister Esther, an agenda for the productive sector”, he said. “The tax reform could have already been voted on and it wasn’t. And it can be voted on because Congress is mature. The deputies and senators are taking office now, but there is a very favorable environment in both Houses and this has a very strong impact on economic growth to improve the lives of companies, improve the lives of industries, to give more transparency to the tax system, to allow that we move forward in the second half and discuss the regressiveness of the tax system that penalizes the poorest families. All of this is on the country’s economic agenda,” said the minister.
“The second thing is the fiscal framework. Let’s send a new tax rule to Congress. This is already contracted. We are giving time for the economic team to formulate a proposal. This will provide security and predictability for economic agents,” he added.
On the issue of credit, Haddad said he had spoken yesterday with the president of the Central Bank, Roberto Campos Neto, “about a quick credit agenda in the country, [que prevê] guarantee system, spread decrease [bancário] and improvement of the competition environment so that there is more cheap credit in Brazil”.
Another issue addressed at the meeting and which, according to him, has already been discussed since the second week of January with the country’s banks, is about Desenrola, aimed at renegotiating small debts.
“It will be presented next week to President Lula and should be launched in February”, said the minister.
IMF
To journalists, after leaving the meeting, Haddad also commented on the International Monetary Fund projections (IMF) for the Brazilian economy. The IMF update shows that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is expected to grow by 1.2% this year and 1.5% in 2024.
“Brazilian banks also made projections and all are increasing this year’s growth to 1.5% or 1.7%. We are in January and it depends on the economic policy as well, which is ongoing”, he said.
Fuels
Haddad said he has not discussed fuel exemptions “since January 1st”, when the current government took office. According to him, so far his portfolio has not been provoked about the possibility of an extension of the measure.
“As of January 1, I no longer discuss this matter,” he said. “The decision [de editar a medida provisória] was taken by the President of the Republic, who, obviously, can revisit the matter, but until now, there has been no provocation by him to the Ministry of Finance”, said Haddad.
Senate Election
In an interview with journalists, Minister Simone Tebet said that she will participate in a lunch today in Brasília to “check the votes” for the presidency of the Federal Senate. According to her, the current government will support Rodrigo Pacheco’s candidacy for re-election as president of the House.
“Economic stability depends on institutional stability. Therefore, we understand in Pacheco the figure of a president capable of harmony with the other powers. Without this, it is impossible to talk about interest rates, guaranteeing lower inflation, economic growth, job and income generation and the quality of public services. Democracy is the big umbrella,” she said.
