The Federal Senate approved, this Tuesday (24), the provisional measure that provides for a discount of up to 99% in the renegotiation of debts with Fies (Student Financing Fund) and expands its list of beneficiaries.
The measure provides that students enrolled in CadÚnico (Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government) or benefiting from emergency aid will be able to receive the maximum forgiveness of the amount due.
Of the 95 amendments presented by senators, the rapporteur of the matter, Senator Fernando Bezerra Coelho (MDB-PE), recommended the rejection of all of them, and made only a few adjustments to the wording, for example, replacing the passage “with a 99% discount” by “up to 99% off”.
The disapproval of the amendments is due to the maximum deadline for voting on the provisional measure, June 1st.
If changes were made to the merits of the measure, the text would have to be sent again to the Chamber of Deputies and be appreciated again there. Thus, it is difficult to imagine that the process would end within the necessary period and, thus, the provisional measure would lose its validity and cease to be in force.
With only wording changes, the text approved by the Chamber goes straight to presidential sanction, practically the same as the text that came out of the Chamber. The measure covers credits contracted with Fies until the second half of 2017.
“The proposed measures provided the resumption of economic activity, employment and family income to the more than one million students who are in default with Fies”, said Fernando Bezerra.
Some parliamentarians, such as Senator Zenaide Maia (Pros-RN), complained about the lack of debate on the text and that Bezerra’s report had been presented to them at short notice, hampering the discussion of the topic.
The emedebista countered, stating that celerity was necessary due to the expiry date of the text.
“This country also needs to value those who pay on time, so the Cadastro Positivo would be very good in a project to value payments on time. But we really cannot compromise the vote due to this highlight”, said Izalci Lucas (PSDB-DF).
The Senate did not change the section that creates the special tax regularization program for Santas Casas, hospitals and charities that work in the health area — an section labeled “tortoise” by Senator Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN).
They will be able to regularize their situations with the Federal Revenue Service or the Attorney General’s Office of the National Treasury (PGFN).
The program covers debts of a tax and non-tax nature due until April 30 of this year, including those that were subject to previous rescinded or active installments. To join, you will need to make an application within 60 days of publication of the law. The debt can be paid in up to 120 successive monthly installments.
Upon joining, entities are obliged to pay the installments of debts consolidated in the installment plan and debts due after April 30, 2022, whether or not registered as active debt of the Union.
The text provides for the exclusion in case of non-payment of three consecutive or six alternating installments or the declaration of bankruptcy or extinction, by liquidation, of the opting entity, among other hypotheses.
If sanctioned by the Presidency in its entirety, the new law will allow the beneficiary with overdue debt from December 2018 to September 2021 to be able to have a full discount of charges if they choose to make the payment in cash. You can also pay the debt in up to 150 months, with total reduction of interest or fines.
For students with overdue debts not paid before December 2018, there is a forecast of a 77% discount on the value – provided that the person is not registered with CadÚnico, nor has he received emergency aid.
In the event of renegotiation, the outstanding balance must be paid in up to 15 monthly installments, adjusted by the Selic (basic interest rate). If the student fails to comply with the agreement and does not pay three successive or five alternating installments, the debt will be reinstated, with the additions.
The text also allows the Federal Revenue to propose a transaction in the collection of tax credits in administrative litigation, individually or by adhesion.
There is the possibility of using tax loss credits and negative calculation base of CSLL (Social Contribution on Net Income), in the calculation of corporate income tax and CSLL, up to the limit of 70% of the remaining balance after the application of discounts.
It also allowed the use of precatories or credit rights with a final and unappealable judgment for amortization of the main tax debt, fine and interest.
The text also provides that the rules for selecting students to be financed must consider family income per capita (per person), proportional to the value of the educational charge of the intended course, and other requirements, as well as the rules for the offer of vacancies.
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