President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended that the exemption range from Personal Income Tax (IPRF) be even higher than the R$5,000 promised to his government during the presidential campaign. According to Lula, the expansion of this range goes far beyond a campaign commitment. “It’s a commitment to justice,” said the president, stating that this will be possible by taxing the super rich.
“You cannot make people who earn R$5,000 pay income tax, while those who have Petrobras shares and receive R$45 billion in dividends do not pay income tax,” said the president during an interview with Rádio O Povo , in Fortaleza.
Among the arguments presented by the president is the fact that workers pay proportionally more taxes than the rich. He, however, stressed that this is a debate that must be carried out in a transparent and open way to the public, and that people must know who pays what, and how much is paid in taxes.
“That’s what’s missing in this country,” said the president. “You can’t charge 27% or 15% to a worker who earns R$4,000, and leave the guys who earn [muito mais]without paying. What we want is to exempt those people [que ganham] up to R$5,000 and, in the future, exempt more because, in my mind, salary is not income. The person who has income is the guy who lives off speculation,” he added.
Applications
Lula also defended the implementation of policies that consider new job markets that consider, in particular, professions and technologies that favor the entrepreneurial spirit of citizens.
“There is a new type of worker that we have to be concerned about. This is, for example, the case of people who work on applications. It is a public that does not have a union; who does not want to have a signed professional card. Many do not want to have a formal contract. Therefore, we have to worry about them on social security, because this citizen could get sick; may have misfortune. And he will get old. We need a guarantee for him to take precautions,” said the president.
Lula defended a bill that establishes rules aimed at defining a working day for these professionals, including establishing the number of hours to be worked. “We don’t even think about making him stop being the professional he wants to be”, pondered Lula.
“I even sanctioned a bill yesterday called Believe, which is the bill that will most guarantee financing for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs and businesspeople; for the cooperative; for Bolsa Família staff who want to do business. They will get credit. It will be the largest credit program ever carried out in the history of this country, for small and medium-sized businesses, for small entrepreneurs”, he added.
Municipal elections
Asked about how he sees the result of the municipal elections, which saw a high rate of re-elected mayors, Lula said that much of this is due to the fact that city halls have received more public resources, which has made it possible for mayors to carry out a greater number of works. .
“We live in a historic moment. The Municipal Participation Fund grew a lot in 2023 and 2024. This number of re-elected mayors is due to the fact that mayors have the resources to get things done. Furthermore, you have the budget amendments, which were secret until the other day. This caused more money to reach city halls. And with more resources, the mayors carried out more works. Therefore, it was the highest percentage of perfect re-election in the history of Brazil”, added the president.
