Tax reform may be voted on by the end of the year, says Guimarães

Tax reform is one of the government’s priority projects in Congress this year. After meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, today (2), at the Planalto Palace, the leader of the government in the Chamber, deputy José Guimarães (PT-CE), said that, “among so many important issues”, this was a of those mentioned by Lula. For the deputy, it is possible to approve a reform text by the end of this year. “[A negociação] is under the command of the minister [da Fazenda, Fernando] Haddad, the deputy leaders will help, we have specialists in the field here. Let’s start talking from Monday [6] about its content and what we can do in advance to have a robust tax reform that takes care of the problems”, he said. In a recent statement, Haddad said that the government intends to vote on the tax reform on consumption in the first half of this year and the reform on income in the second half. The simplification of taxation on consumption is at the heart of the first phase and the text intends to be based on two proposed amendments to the Constitution (PEC) pending in Congress (PEC 45/2019 and PEC 110/2019). They bring together several taxes that today focus on consumption in less taxes. The divergence lies in the number of unified taxes and the way in which the merger will occur. There are tax reform proposals stalled in Congress and tax reform stalls in Congress. This Thursday, Lula received Guimarães and another 13 of the 15 vice-leaders of the government in the Chamber, chosen among the parties of the allied base. According to the deputy, the meeting was one of approximation and dialogue with the president, “which will be permanent”. “That’s what makes the vice-leaders flow and play a leading role in important matters for the government and the country”, said Guimarães.

Agência Brasil